Something Further than the Universe
by AestheticOtaku19
Summary: When Uraraka asks Izuku to be her date to U.A. High’s end of the year dance, he agrees, feeling more than excited up until the moment it hits him: he can't dance to save his life. Later that same night, after hours of aimless practice, Mina ends up being the one to help him out. {Cover credit goes to @kiwikyu on DeviantArt!}
1. Chapter 1 - Dance Partners

A/N: A _slow burn romance between Izuku and Mina. This story can also be read on Wattpad under the same title. Anyway, this isn't my first fic but it is my first on fan so I hope everyone enjoys the first chapter! I'd love to hear any constructive criticism, and reviews are greatly appreciated. :)_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Izuku had gone outside feeling confident, sure he'd sort out the problem one way or another, but when he tripped over his feet for what could've been the thousandth time that night, it dawned on him: he couldn't dance to save his life. He probably couldn't dance to save the world, for that matter, even if the world was in desperate need of saving.

At first he made an excuse that the moonlight was too scarce, preventing him from seeing his own two hands in front of his face. He forced himself to believe that, but eventually he fell so many times that he just accepted the inevitable. He didn't have the knack for dancing.

But the problem was that he needed to learn how to dance, and soon. Because U.A.'s end of the year dance was coming up, and he'd been asked on a date.

It came out of the blue when she did it, too. That afternoon was like any other, seeing as he was still cramming his backpack with books while the rest of the class had left already to head back to the dorms. And then, as usual, he found Uraraka waiting for him outside the doorway because she was courteous, and that was something she did everyday.

But what caught him off guard was when she just said it. Before he even took a step forward, too, and when Mr. Aizawa was just barely out of earshot. "Will you go to the dance with me?" He had to do a double take because she said it so fast he wasn't sure he heard her right, and he didn't think someone could see him as more than a friend.

But when he watched her stand there, gazing at her shoes, he knew he had in fact heard what he thought he heard, and he might've exploded from embarrassment right on the spot. He was sure he'd say yes, though, once he calmed down, and he did. Uraraka was sweet, and he thought she was a really cute girl. But he wasn't in love with her or anything, not even close.

He decided to focus on the here and now, pushing all his doubts to the back of his mind and letting the sound of the music wash over him. He tried to figure out where to place his feet, but in his attempt he only ended up falling face first into the ground.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Mina always hated the common area once the clock hit nine, because there was absolutely no one to talk to. She had a lot she wanted to say, and yet at the same time she wasn't exactly sure what. She just knew she'd start running her mouth to whoever she saw, as long as they were somewhat trustworthy.

She thought she was out of luck until she heard the sound of soft music seeping through the walls, almost like the stuff they played at ballroom dances. Were those even a thing anymore? She didn't think so. Curiosity took her to the windowsill where the sound was coming from, and she lifted it and peeked her head out just enough to see the outskirts of the building. There was a lot of green. The grass, the leaves growing on the trees, and a mess of green hair that could only belong to one of her classmates. It blended in so well she could have missed it.

Even though she didn't really talk to Izuku, she was just glad she wasn't alone. Besides, he was hard-working and friendly and seemed like the kind of person everyone got along with, even if he came off as a little weird sometimes.

What really peaked her interest, though, was that he was _dancing_. Or at least trying to, because his dancing skills were so atrocious she wasn't even sure she could call it that.

She was filled with this nagging curiosity she couldn't shake (why the hell would Izuku be trying to dance at this time of night?), so, following nothing but her instincts, she headed outside and let the music lead her to him. He stumbled like a baby learning how to walk, and as someone who danced during her freetime, she was disappointed. So disappointed that she thought it was best to go over and help him.

"Midoriya!"

A high-pitched voice made him freeze, because whoever had called out to him probably saw everything. He turned around slowly and could barely make out a figure in the dark, but that abundance of pink stood out against the harsh colors of the night.

"Ashido! Um, w-what are you doing out so late?"

"I saw you trying to dance, and you were so bad at it that I got curious. Like, the _worst_ of the worst."

"Y-you saw that?" He sighed a little. At least she didn't know the reason behind his dancing.

"I've never taken you as someone who'd want to dance, Midoriya. Like, don't get me wrong, I could totally teach you how, but why?" She put a finger to her chin, and the silence made him realize the music was still playing the background. He paused it and turned up the brightness on his phone.

"I-I d-don't really like to dance, actually," he said, sheepishly rubbing his neck.

"What? But you were trying so hard!" Then she gasped, and he winced because she was the kind of girl who only gasped when she thought of something exciting. "Don't tell me you're going on a date!" She threw her hands to her cheeks dramatically. "You got asked to the dance, didn't you?"

His face had gone aflame right then, and he didn't even have to say anything because she knew.

"Who asked you? Who? Was it Uraraka? Was it?"

"Y-yeah, it was her."

His voice was small, though, taken with the wind until it reached past the clouds, and she wasn't even sure of what he said. "What was that?"

"Yes!" he told her, a blush spreading over his ears and his neck and his entire body. He waited for her to say something, but she never did.

Mina was at a loss for words. Uraraka had been pondering her feelings for Izuku for a while now, and Mina thought the day would never come when she actually got the courage to ask him out. And she was happy because finally had something interesting to talk about. She probably shouldn't gossip about her friend's love life, but the little tidbit of information she'd just been given was so good it gave her goosebumps.

And then she realized she'd spaced out, and when she came back to reality Izuku had slid down the tree they were standing by, sitting with his head in his hands. She sat down, too, and was a little distraught when pine needles stuck to the back of her shirt.

"Midoriya. Hey, I want to help you," she said, ignoring the pine needles and tapping his shoulder.

It was a struggle for him to even pick up his head because he was so embarrassed, but he did so anyway because Mina's offer was too good. He'd seen her dance before. The only word to describe it was incredible, and it made him wish he had a talent he could practice in his free time, too.

He remembered the first time she'd ever mentioned her breakdancing skills to the class. They were in the dorms one night, bored out of their minds, when she said, "Look over here!" So everyone looked over at her, and then they never turned away because she was probably a better dancer than everyone in the whole world combined. Izuku was particularly in awe because he couldn't dance if everyone depended on it.

His other friends had some pretty amazing talents, too, like Jirou's singing and Sato's baking, but Mina's talent impressed him the most. He asked her to teach him some dance moves, but he never really got much out of it because the rest of the class joined in, and there were just too many people for her to keep up with.

If only it was just the two of them, then, because then he would have learned how to dance a long time ago, and he would be doing better things with his time. But that was in the past and he needed her help now. He just hoped she knew how to slow dance.

"Ashido, does that mean you'll help me?" His eyes seemed to light up in the dark with what little light his phone had to offer.

"Of course I will. But it might be a while since you're so bad."

He squinted at her backhanded remark, and she must've been able to see pretty well because she laughed. It was a light laugh, one that tickled the back of her throat, but when he looked at her out of confusion she laughed a little harder.

"That face, Midoriya!"

He didn't say anything. Almost as if she could read his mind, she said, "It's just funny because that face doesn't really suit you, and you look like you're trying too hard to be angry."

"O-oh." He just smiled at her anxiously because she was right. He'd gotten better with it lately, but he still couldn't act naturally around girls if his life depended on it. And it wasn't just Uraraka or Mina, but pretty much any girl thrown his way.

"Okay, we should really start dancing now. It's getting late," Mina said, a smile still on her face.

"W-wait, it's slow dancing, right? So don't we need to be partners?"

"Who said we were just slow dancing? And you've been trying to slow dance without a partner? How do you even do that?"

He hadn't really been practicing slow dancing _specifically_ , mostly just dancing in general. It was a school dance, so the deejay could play whatever—something with an electric beat to keep the party going or something slow and romantic to set the mood, or maybe a mix of both. But he didn't want to explain all that so he just shrugged.

She rolled her eyes and got up, offering her hand. He noticed how soft her fingers were.

"So what are we going to do then?" he asked.

"I think the first thing you need to do is loosen up a little bit. You're way too tense, Midoriya, so let's start off by simply dancing! No rules, nothing. Just dance your heart out!"

She grabbed his phone and found a song with a good tempo, one that just made her want to get up and dance until she was too tired to anymore. She tried to pick something he'd enjoy, too, but that was hard because she didn't really know what kind of music boys listened to.

As Mina set the phone down on the grass again, she found herself smiling. Something about Midoriya made him fun to talk to, and she didn't know what because the two of them were polar opposites. She was the kind of girl who would laugh at the wrong time, couldn't keep a secret for her life, while he was reserved, only good friends with a solid two or three people in the entire class. He probably had a whole list of secrets he kept hidden.

And yet she liked talking to him already. Maybe it was _because_ they were polar opposites, or maybe she was just too stunned over Uraraka finally asking him out to think straight.

And what made it even stranger was that at the beginning of the school year, he kind of weirded her out. He didn't really do much besides mumble and take down notes, and he seemed to go through notebook after notebook, to the point where some of them would start overflowing. And then there was his Quirk. It was like it was dormant for a solid ten years of his life, breaking his bones with every chance it got like he didn't have any control over it.

But even though she hadn't talked to him, she noticed he was breaking out of his shell lately and his Quirk was becoming stronger. She wasn't totally opposed to the idea of becoming friends with someone who had such a strong ambition.

She ignored her thoughts before her mind went on a tangent and watched him stagger. "Don't think about it. Just dance," she said, giving him a thumbs up.

He decided to do just that. At first it was nerve-racking, dancing in front of someone with his lack of skill, but when he found a comfortable rhythm, it came easy. And even though he must've looked off balance to her, he still found himself having a good time.

"This actually isn't that bad."

"I told you it would be fun!"

Karma must've had it out for him, though, because moments after she spoke, his feet crossed over and he fell. It was so ironic that she laughed. She didn't feel bad about it, either, because he laughed with her.

It took him a while, but eventually he felt comfortable dancing, feet moving quickly through the grass. And she really smiled when that moment came, because it seemed like they'd spent forever just getting into a nice rhythm.

"Okay, I think you've got the feel of this pretty much down. But your form is still... a total mess."

"At least that's a start," he said, sighing.

"Good! Now I think it's time we slow dance now."

"Wait, what?"

She giggled and took his hands, placing them on her waist, and then she curled her fingers over his shoulders. She could just see the shock pouring out of him, his face lighting up like a candle. "A-Ashido!"

"Okay, now that's all you have to do to get set up." She felt his hands shaking against her waist, and they were warm. His tendency to get nervous was something that would never change about him.

"Alright, now we just have to move our feet," she said. So that's what they did, and they didn't try to make a show of dancing. Instead, she kind of instructed him, more or less, and there was a lot more space between them then when they'd first started.

It only lasted a few moments, though, because his toes pretty much plowed over hers on more than one occasion, and then he was asking if she was okay and she was laughing. But she was actually laughing to cover up the pain because he stepped on her toes so hard she thought they could've been broken.

Yeah, it would be a while before Izuku's got the knack for slow dancing.

They leaned against the tree trunk again after that, and he complained he was tired. And she just said that he shouldn't be, because they hadn't done much, but he told her he'd been training his Quirk already for hours.

"You train a lot, Midoriya. Sometimes it'll be six in the morning and everyone will be laying in bed, and I'll look out the window and see you running around the track before the sun's even up."

He went kind of red in the cheeks. "I-I just like to stay in shape to make my Quirk stronger."

She groaned and slouched back against the tree. "I wish I had that kind of ambition, y'know? But I feel like I couldn't focus on one thing for that long. I'd end up texting Kirishima or Kaminari or something, and then I'd be on the couch watching bad rom coms."

"I just kind of tell myself that training is for the best. That if I want to get stronger, I have to work hard. T-this might sound strange to you, but I think training is fun."

She looked him in the eyes, turning to the side so that she was facing him. "It's not strange. I have a hobby of dancing, and you hate dancing. That doesn't make my hobby strange, does it? Or maybe it does, I don't know."

"I-I think you're really good at dancing, Ashido. Breakdancing, especially."

He smiled at her, and she noticed his eyes were a very bright and lively shade of green. She felt a little warm inside, and she thought it would be best if she turned away. "Really? Thanks," she said.

It was quiet for a second, and then they started talking about how Mr. Aizawa had come into homeroom in his sleeping bag this morning and how Mina almost failed algebra this year. And even though he didn't mean to be funny, Mina found that even though he was a nerd, he knew how to lighten up a conversation.

"So, Midoriya, how'd Uraraka ask you out, huh?" she asked, gently nudging his side as she watched him begin to sweat. They'd been talking for a few minutes already, so it didn't feel weird for her to do that.

"U-um, well, it was kind of sudden, I guess..."

And then Izuku told her the entire story, from the moment he left the classroom earlier this afternoon to the moment he got back to the dorms. About how it was awkward between the two of them, and he wasn't sure what they were now. He kept going on about the smallest little details until he was mumbling about how he had to learn how to dance soon or else he was screwed.

"Midoriya."

He came back to reality after that, and then, internally, he felt like he had made a huge mistake. Knowing Ashido, she would probably broadcast the news to the entire school, maybe even sneak past the teachers and say it on the intercom.

Okay, that last part was a stretch, but Ashido probably shouldn't have been the first person he told. "I probably shouldn't have told you that."

"Nope. You definitely should have."

"Can you please keep quiet about it? Just this once, Ashido?"

"Can I at least tell Uraraka?"

He squinted his eyes again, but this time there was a lot more sarcasm in them. She laughed and said, "Okay, I at least want to know how you feel about her."

Izuku wasn't sure how to answer that, because he definitely liked Uraraka, but it wasn't the kind of like where he couldn't be without her or where his heart beat faster every time she was around. Sometimes it would when she was close to his face or said something really nice, but he wouldn't call that the kind of like where he was in love.

"I-I like her. She's pretty and hard-working, a-and I guess I like her."

"So you don't love her?"

"I-I wouldn't say I love her. I think I just like her."

Mina listened carefully and decided to tread lightly. Uraraka liked Midoriya so much she was in love with him, so Mina wasn't going to mention that last part to her.

"Oh. Well love can take time, I guess," she said. She didn't really mind that he wasn't in love with Uraraka yet, but she felt bad for her friend.

The two of them struck up a conversation for a few more minutes, and when they realized they lost track of time and it was almost curfew, they hurried inside and upstairs.

When Izuku made it to his room, he was surprised he'd had so much fun talking to Mina, because he had always seen her as someone who was just too much for him. She was so hyper and energetic, and he thought if he ever talked to her he'd implode. But he went to bed thinking it wasn't all that bad.

Mina was supposed to be in her room now, but she found herself running to Uraraka's instead, hoping she was still awake. She knocked on the door and heard footsteps, and then Uraraka opened it and looked at her with sleepy eyes. But she was jolted awake when Mina hugged her tight, squealing about something she couldn't quite make out.

Then she pulled away, and Uraraka heard her clearly this time. "You asked him out and you didn't tell me?"

Uraraka went bright red, maybe even a hundred times brighter than Izuku ever did when Mina was talking to him earlier, and she pulled away from Mina's arms. "I-I just d-did it on a whim! I wasn't planning to!"

"But you could've told me, Uraraka! This is important!"

"Exactly. I was scared you'd go and tell everyone." Uraraka narrowed her eyes, and then tilted her head to the side. "How'd you even find out, anyway?"

Mina began to sweat. She didn't know how to say this. "Okay, well, long story short, Midoriya needed my help dancing, so then I kind of got him to tell me the whole story."

"Did you pressure him into it?" Uraraka asked.

Mina just rubbed her neck like she was guilty. She hadn't pressured him to tell her the _whole_ story, but she had pressured him to tell her who it was in the first place.

"Are you serious, Mina?"

"Yeah."

"Please don't tell anyone."

"I'll try," she said. She would, honestly, but she wasn't sure she could promise something like that. She was horrible when it came to secrets. It was just so hard for her to keep quiet about things when it came down to it, because she loved it when her classmates got all shocked and dropped their jaws like they'd just heard the most mind blowing thing in the world. And usually it was, because she always racked up the juiciest information.

"And don't get too close to him, okay?"

Mina knew what her friend was implying, and she had to keep herself from bursting into a fit of laughter on the spot. Sure, Midoriya was funny, but he was way too nerdy for her.

"Honestly, Uraraka, he's all yours. He is not my type." Mina rolled her eyes, but she felt her cheeks get warm. It wasn't because they were talking about Izuku specifically, she told herself. She was just blushing at the thought of love in general.

Uraraka crossed her arms. "Okay, if you say so."

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

A/N: This _is a slow burn, so their relationship will take a while to build up. Again, I'd love to see reviews, and if you didn't enjoy the chapter please let me know why!_


	2. Chapter 2 - It's Easy to Fall in Love

A/N: _Thank you all for the positive feedback on the first chapter. Constructive criticism is welcome, too, so if you have some please let me know. And I know I mentioned this fanfic will be a slow burn, but it won't be like 100k words or anything like that. I'll probably max out at around 70k words._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Mina woke up early the next morning, and at first she wasn't sure what time it was. It could've been the middle of the night for all she knew, or at least it seemed that way because the room was still dark. She figured she was wrong, though, when she walked out onto the balcony and saw Izuku running laps, the sun faintly peeking over the horizon behind him.

She watched him for a minute before turning to go back to bed, but she stopped the moment it hit her. An idea. There was no doubt it was a bad idea because she was tired, and her head was never in the right place when she was tired. But it wasn't in the right place when she was awake, either, so she got dressed and headed downstairs anyway.

She waited outside, standing at a corner that was unsuspicious to the untrained eye, and she hoped he'd make another lap before she got antsy.

When she heard his footsteps getting closer, she leaped out from behind the building and grabbed him by the shoulders. She yelled "Midoriya!" so loud he shrieked and lost his balance. It was a girly kind of shriek, too, the kind of shriek boys liked to make fun of.

"A-Ashido! What are you doing?" He was on the ground now, one hand clutching his heart to keep it from jumping out of his chest. He was _not_ expecting that.

Mina kept a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing, because she would be lying if she said she didn't want to make fun of him. He just made it so easy. Especially when he sounded like that, his voice so high he could've been a girl if she didn't know any better. "I can't believe you actually screamed."

He put his hands up in defense. "I-I was surprised. Did you come out here just to surprise me?"

"Yep." Mina didn't like seeing him so helpless, so she offered her hand. She remembered helping him up last night, too.

"How'd you know I was out here?"

"I saw you when I woke up. And I was going to go back to bed, but I decided I'd rather scare you instead."

"Please don't ever do that again. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack."

She narrowed her eyes and said, "I don't think I can promise that," and Izuku knew she wasn't lying.

He noticed her smile get a thousand times brighter, then, and she leaned in a little closer with this happy-go-lucky kind of expression. He started to sweat. He still wasn't used to being so close to a girl.

"Can I jog with you, Midoriya? You're fine with that, right?" Suddenly she wasn't so tired anymore, and the rays of sunlight streaming across the sky gave her motivation to run and get some exercise.

But after her sudden burst of energy began to waver, she realized how close she was to his face. He had a lot more freckles than she could've imagined, and he was still breathing heavy after his run. Her breath caught in her throat. She backed off a little.

"T-that's fine! But why do you want to jog so suddenly?" he asked.

"Because we're friends, right?"

Izuku hadn't really thought of her as a friend until she mentioned it. The first time they really talked was yesterday, less than twelve hours ago, and most of that time was allotted to dancing. But he had a lot of fun hanging out with her, so he decided he was okay with it. "Yeah, I guess so."

They started running at a steady pace both of them could keep up with, until she was out of breath and he took the lead. The February breeze felt a lot colder now that he had taken off, and she wanted to use her Quirk to catch up with him. But as she watched him in the distance, she decided that wouldn't be fair because he could've used his Quirk, too, if he wanted to. He didn't though, because someone like him wouldn't do that. So she wouldn't either.

After finishing a few more laps, Izuku stopped at the building's front entrance and waited for Mina. She showed up, eventually, but she was staggering and dropped to the ground the moment she reached him, her breathing coarse and scratchy in her throat.

"My legs feel like jelly. How do you do that every morning without dying?" she asked.

"I kind of just got used to it after a while. It's good exercise for my Quirk."

Mina felt like she lacked something. Izuku had such a big incentive, one that couldn't be touched by villains or physical setbacks or pretty much anything. She didn't think she'd ever met someone with a motivation as strong as his. Bakugo was a close second, but his heart wasn't in the right place to be a hero.

Mina sighed. "I tell myself that all the time, that training is for the best, but I don't think I have the stamina to run for that long."

"If you keep working at it, you'll get stamina eventually. It took me a while to get in shape, too. I could never run like this before I got into U.A, so don't quit now." He smiled, and Mina had one of those moments where it was impossible for her not to smile. But if she did smile it would be embarrassing, so she tried to keep a straight face.

The sky was getting brighter, and the stars that were visible a few moments ago had vanished in the morning light. Her classmates would be waking up now. "This sucks. I wanted to dance before breakfast!"

He shrugged. "It's too late now, but maybe we can after class."

"Okay. You still need a lot of work, Midori," she said, flicking his forehead. It felt customary for her to do that, natural.

"Midori?"

Oh, God. She hadn't even realized she called him that.

"I-I can call you that, right? As a nickname? I think it suits you. Don't you think it has a nice ring—"

"U-um, that's fine. If you want to call me that, I guess."

She was glad Izuku didn't mention anything more about it because it was embarrassing, and it kind of just slipped out. Was it weird for her to call him Midori? It just seemed like a weird nickname to call someone. Oh well, she probably wouldn't be using it anyway.

Inside, some of their classmates were making breakfast, but most of them were still upstairs getting ready. The few who were already downstairs swiveled their heads when the two of them walked in, and Izuku even noticed Kirishima raising an eyebrow.

It must've been strange to be walking around with Mina, seeing as they never would've done that before yesterday, and he felt like the center of attention until she said she forgot her phone upstairs. He wasn't too keen on being the center of attention unless he was saving peoples' lives.

His phone buzzed in his back pocket. It was Uraraka. **Hey I was wondering if maybe we could talk?**

He swallowed down his doubts. He didn't want to talk to her because he wasn't sure he'd be able to form a sentence, but at the same time he did because he wanted to know where they stood relationship-wise.

 **Sure. I'm over on the couch and no one else is over here.**

Izuku spent the next five minutes waiting for her, and when the elevator doors finally opened, he let out the breath he'd been holding. She was already in her uniform and avoided any greetings from her classmates before sitting beside him. She was so close their shoulders were almost touching.

"I-I know we haven't really talked since yesterday, Deku, but I've just been wondering what we are a-and stuff like that."

Uraraka wouldn't face him, her head turned to the window. He thought about resting his hand on top of hers, but he didn't know if that would make things awkward, so he didn't. "O-oh, you're talking about our relationship."

"Yeah. I really, really like you, Deku. And I want to be your g-girlfriend. But you could probably assume that since I asked you to the dance," she said, getting quiet suddenly like she realized where they were. And then she took his hand in hers, and he realized he shouldn't have been worried over what was considered awkward or not because her fingers were gentle and soft, and he was about to have a _girlfriend_. For the first time ever.

He composed himself. "I want to be with you, too, U-Uraraka. But I think we should maybe wait a little?"

"Okay. That's fine with me. How long do you want to wait?"

"How about until after the dance. I know it's over a month away, but it might be good to wait until our second year to be together. And, well, final exams are coming up."

She almost reached over and took his arm, but she remembered half the class was right behind them, their voices hushed by the sound of pots and pans clattering.

Her shoulders fell as she let go of his hand. "Yeah, I agree."

And she did agree, mostly, because they wanted to become heroes. And heroism was something that they had to put all of their time and effort toward, so whatever relationship they were about to establish would come secondary to training. But still, a little part of her, the part of her that made her feel guilty, wanted more than anything to hook her arm around his and be with him now—today and tomorrow and every day after that. But she knew he was right, and she wasn't going to push it when starting a relationship now wouldn't be beneficial to either of them.

She wouldn't look up at him. "But even when we're together, hero training should be what comes first," she said. He nodded.

Uraraka was playing with her hair, weaving it between her fingers carefully, and that's when he noticed the grin she was wearing, wide enough that she could've been the happiest girl on the planet. He wasn't sure he could've smiled like that because he was so nervous.

He wanted to stay and talk to her, his future girlfriend, but he remembered he was still in gym clothes, and his stomach rumbled whenever the smell of breakfast wafted through the room. So he headed upstairs.

He pulled out his phone on the way up, hands shaking against the screen, and he thought about texting a friend about what just happened. Telling Iida would be waste, because he would just tell him to focus on his studies more even though he was focusing on his studies enough already.

Instead, he opened Mina's contact and hit _message_. The screen was blank, void of any texts they may or may not have sent. He couldn't remember texting Mina before this, but he couldn't say for sure because he usually didn't remember trivial things like that.

He stared at the keypad for a second and didn't type anything, and then he laughed at himself and tucked his phone back into his pocket. He couldn't bare the weight of her knowing something like that, especially since word spread fast enough on its own.

 **\- o - o - o -**

The weekend had finally arrived, the day after Izuku established his relationship with Uraraka, and Mina was spending it in Hagakure's room, curled up in a ball of blankets as she tried to peel away her face mask. She wanted to tear the whole thing off in one swift motion instead of in little flaky pieces, but it was stubborn, sticking to her skin and ripping off painfully, like a band-aid that had been left on too long. Her friends were sprawled out on the floor, groaning as they faced the same problem. She reminded herself to stop buying this brand.

"Finally." Mina sighed as she glided her hands over her cheeks—soft as a baby's.

"You said it. Those things were a pain, ribbit," Asui said, dropping the remains of her face mask in the trash. The girls nodded.

Hagakure shrugged. "At least the boys will think we look nice."

"Speaking of boys..."

Mina shut up right then before it was too late, but it was too late anyway because she already caught everyone's attention. They waited for her to continue, but she just giggled because she couldn't spit the words out, her cheeks turning lilac when she realized she couldn't turn back. Not that she minded not being able to turn back.

She glanced at Uraraka, who was giving her the stink eye. "Mina!" she whispered loudly. A little too loudly. It took a second before Uraraka realized her mistake.

"Oh my gosh, Ochako. Is there a boy we don't know about?" Hagakure said, her voice shrill with anticipation.

"N-no! Mina's making stuff up. I really don't know what she's talking about."

"Does it have to do with Midoriya?" Jirou asked.

"No. I-it has nothing to do with him!"

Mina watched from afar as the girls circled Uraraka, trapping her like a game of cat and mouse. Eventually, once she was completely cornered, she folded and told them the whole story. From barely being able to keep her feelings under wraps all the way to asking Izuku to the dance. And then she told them about something that not even Mina knew, about something that happened yesterday morning.

She tried not to lose it right then, tried not to go off the rails and swoon, but finally, _finally_ , there was a romance blossoming between her classmates, something Mina had been hoping for since the very beginning of the year. And better yet it was a romance between two of her friends, one of them being the girl she talked to most often and the other being the boy she wanted to get to know better, because over the last few days she rarely felt happier than the moments they spent laughing at his horrible dance moves.

It wasn't weird for her to hang out with him even though he was with Uraraka, right? She got nervous for a second, but she relaxed when she realized Uraraka wouldn't care, especially when she had no reason to be worried.

"I'm so happy for you," Mina said, sneaking in and giving Uraraka a hug. Uraraka pushed her away, though, because she wanted to peel off the rest of her face mask. She did that and then said she needed to charge her phone, only to realize she forgot the charger in her room.

As soon as she was gone, everyone's eyes shot to Mina. And at first she was a little confused on why, but as they stared, their gazes unwavering, it hit her.

"So, Mina, which one of them told you they were a thing? Because you've been spending a lot of time with Midoriya lately."

Mina's smile fell at Jirou's accusation, and she started laughing that awkward kind of laugh, the kind of laugh that was only there to fill the silence. "Guys, please. Midoriya told me. So what? We're friends."

"Why are you two suddenly so close, though? I've never seen the two of you together until recently," Yaoyorozu said. She sounded concerned.

"I'm just teaching him how to dance, because he can't. Like, at all." She almost laughed, but she took a moment to collect herself. "Will you guys please get off my case?"

"Why isn't Ochako just teaching him?" Hagakure asked.

"Because she can't dance either!"

Yaoyorozu raised her hand. "I'm the one who's teaching her. You may not believe it, but I've been to quite a few ballroom dances."

"I'm just surprised Ochako is okay with you teaching him. She's kinda the jealous type," Jirou said, laying back on the bed and curling one of her earphone jacks around her finger.

"Obviously she's not going to care, because she has nothing to be jealous of. We're _friends_. Besides, he's not even my type. He's a nerd, and there's no way I could fall for someone like that."

Nevermind falling for him, just liking him in the first place was impossible. He was an All Might fanboy, someone who spent his very minimal free time collecting action figures and hero posters.

And Mina was glad it was impossible, because she would be doomed, unbelievably and inescapably doomed, if she _ever_ caught feelings for Izuku. Especially since he already liked someone, and she liked him back.

To flee the allegations being forced upon her, she glanced out to the balcony. The curtains were open, letting her see the one person she really wished she hadn't. Not right now. He was training as always, and Mina felt like he could hear everything they were saying even though he couldn't. But her face got hot anyway, cheeks turning a faint shade of lavender.

"Is he out there, ribbit?"

"No," she lied.

"Anyway, Mina, that's where you're wrong. Sure, you might have a type, but do you even know what your type _is_? Have you ever been in love?"

"No. Of course not. I'm sixteen," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Exactly. So your type could be anyone. Even guys like Midoriya," Hagakure said, trying to prove her previous point.

"Guys, I'm never going to fall for Midoriya. I'm just not."

"That's what I said back in junior high. I was wrong. Very, very wrong."

"Wait, Toru, you've been in love?" Jirou asked, brought back to the conversation by what Hagakure had just suggested.

"Uhm, I don't know. I think so. Maybe."

"With who?"

"A boy in my junior high school."

Mina perked up, her jaw dropping all the way to the floor. "Tell us the details. Now."

She drew in a heavy breath. "Okay, so this was in my last year of junior high, and there was this boy in my class who I was friends with. You guys wouldn't know him. Anyway, we were friends, but I don't think he ever looked at me the way I looked at him because I'm invisible."

"But how did you, like, fall for him?" Mina asked. She watched Hagakure tense up, and she wondered if she would be blushing if she wasn't invisible.

"W-well, it just kind of happened. Suddenly I couldn't really think of anything else besides him. But we were close friends by that point, so I decided to keep my mouth shut. And then he got a girlfriend, and I cried a lot when I first found out. But I'm over it now. I don't talk to him anymore."

"So it wasn't magical and amazing?" Mina said.

"No. It was at first, and then it was painful, and I kind of wished it never happened."

There was a silence as Hagakure really appreciated the looks on their faces. "What's wrong, guys?"

"I just can't believe you were in love and didn't tell us until now," Jirou said.

"I didn't really want to remember it."

She felt desperate hands reach for her shoulders, then, and looked up to see Mina only inches from her face. "How could you not tell me, Toru? This is, like, insane! I thought Ochako was the only one who had been in love."

Mina felt a little betrayed by her friend, especially since love was the thing she did best. Or at least she liked to think so, but apparently two of her friends had been in love and she didn't even know it.

"Mina, please leave her alone. She is clearly uncomfortable." Yaoyorozu got between the two of them and put a hand on Mina's shoulder.

"As I was trying to prove with that whole story, it's easy to fall in love. So don't get too ahead of yourself, Mina."

Mina back off after that. "Yeah, whatever," she mumbled. "Anyone else have a love story they haven't told me?"

They heard the door click and fixed their gazes onto Uraraka, who had her phone charger in hand. "Sorry I took so long. It was hidden under my bed and I couldn't find it. What are we talking about?"

"Nothing of importance," Yaoyorozu said.

"The bad face masks still, ribbit."

Everyone, especially Mina, thanked Asui for the quick excuse.

Somehow they got on the topic of boys again, and Mina was grateful because none of the girls ever talked about boys. She thought they were just scared to get made fun of or something, like everyone would think their crushes were ugly. But that was the thing about crushes: they were often so strangely personal that no one else could wrap their heads around them.

But the sad part of it all was that none of them even had crushes. They just didn't have love stories in the first place. It wasn't like she could talk, though, because she only had two boyfriends during the entirety of middle school. Both relationships ended in regret, and both relationships lasted less than a few months.

"So, ribbit, who do you guys think is the cutest boy in class?" Asui asked.

Mina pondered over it for so long she wasn't even sure what the question was anymore. She tried to think of someone, really, but she was at a total loss. Sure, she thought plenty of the boys in their class were cute, but none of them really struck her as exceptional.

The only person she could think of was Izuku and his freckles and his pretty eyes, the lively green ones that stood out against everything. She noticed them that first night when she caught him dancing in the dark, and she guessed she was thinking of them now because she hadn't really been around any other boys since then.

She shook it off and thought about simply saying Kirishima, but she didn't want to set off any sparks in her friends' minds in the wrong direction. She hung out with Kirishima enough as it was, and there was no reason to make people think they liked each other.

She gave up agonizing over it and just ended up saying Todoroki or Bakugo or someone like that. She didn't bother to remember who it was, and she certainly wasn't going to when she woke up the next morning. So she tucked herself into her sleeping bag and nestled between Jirou and Yaoyorozu, falling asleep sometime after midnight.


	3. Chapter 3 - What Lies Beyond the Stars

A/N: _Really didn't know what to title this, but it's late and I wanted to post this before I went to bed._ _I had a lot of fun writing this (4,100 words), and it took a lot of editing for me to feel somewhat happy with the outcome. I'm a little worried about it getting boring at some points, especially when it comes to the second half. There's a lot of dialogue, and most of the dialogue is a setup for later chapters. I'd love to hear any feedback you guys have. And you'll finally understand why I titled this story_ Something Further than the Universe, _which I'm sure most of you have been wondering about._

 _Another thing I wanted to address was that the canon storyline is quickly approaching the end of Class 1'A's first year at U.A, the time during which this story is set. To any future readers who are wondering, and because the canon story seems to be diverging from having their first year at U.A. end peacefully (although nothing has been confirmed yet), I'd just like to say that this story will not be following the canon storyline._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Something about Izuku's budding friendship with Mina had brought on suspicion from their classmates—the kind of suspicion that followed the two of them wherever they went, like they were meek and unsuspecting and everyone else was right on their tails, waiting for the chance to pounce. Izuku wasn't sure what it was they were suspicious of exactly, but he just wanted to make it to class peacefully on Monday without any mishaps or misunderstandings. But when he heard a certain familiar voice call out to him from the crowd, he knew his wish wasn't going to come true.

"Thanks for waiting for me, Midoriya," Mina said, bending down and putting her hands on her knees. She was disappointed that she still lacked stamina, but she knew it would take a while before her morning jogs with Izuku played into effect.

"No problem. W-what's up?"

"All my friends took off without me, and I was walking around aimlessly looking for them until Ochako told me they already left. Can you believe that? They probably forgot I existed or something."

"Maybe they were playing a prank on you," he suggested, picking up his pace where he'd left off. Mina bounced on her heels at the idea, sneaking up beside him.

"Now that I think about it, they'd totally do that. They're too dumb to think of a better prank."

"I don't think that's a bad prank, is it?"

She looked at him funny. "You really need to get out more, Midoriya, because that's a horrible prank."

"Oh, I didn't know."

And he wouldn't have known, because he was uptight, socially inept, could barely keep up a conversation with a girl if his life depended on it. Mina was everything he wasn't: easygoing and a social butterfly, the kind of person who enticed everyone like gravity. Nobody in their right mind who'd known them for more than a second would think they'd make good friends.

And he could understand that, because he wasn't sure what about Mina made her so much fun to hang out with, either. But he knew it had to be something, because otherwise she wouldn't be walking beside him right now. Maybe it was just the extra time they were spending together, and as soon as he figured out the whole dancing thing, their friendship would fizzle out.

"Hey, Midoriya, look!" Mina said, pointing to the sky. By the sound of her voice, he thought maybe she was seeing something breathtaking.

Except she wasn't, because when he followed her hand, he saw the very same sky he'd seen all morning, dreary and dull and infested with dark clouds. Maybe he was missing something. "What is—"

"BOO!"

He yelped when the shock of it hit him, her hands on his shoulders and her voice so loud it could've shattered his eardrums. Mina doubled over with laughter because everyone within a mile radius could hear him, and it reminded her of that time she popped out from around the corner while he was jogging. He took his time catching his breath and then began to laugh, so much so that he ignored the fact that he'd just embarrassed himself in front of half the school.

As soon as he could think straight again, he heard another familiar voice to his left, opposite of where Mina was standing. "Hey, Deku. You look happy this morning!"

Uraraka smiled, and Izuku was worried she'd notice the tips of his ears getting red. Mina probably would because she was right behind him and those were the kind of things she noticed, but thankfully Iida was there to save the day.

"Midoriya, you're in a good mood today," he said, coming up behind them and walking next to Uraraka.

"Ashido gave me a good scare."

Uraraka and Iida both said hello to Mina, finally noticing she was there, and then Uraraka asked the question he knew was inevitable.

"So then that shriek was you, Deku?"

He really didn't want to admit that to her, let alone to anyone. "U-um, yeah."

"I would've had no idea," Uraraka said, the corners of her lips tugging upward like she was trying to hold down a laugh.

Mina tried to think of something worthwhile to say, to draw Izuku's attention away from Uraraka and back onto her, so she snuck up behind him and leaned forward a little and whispered, "You sounded like a girl."

Izuku almost embarrassed himself for the second time that morning when he heard Mina's voice against his ear, whispering quietly enough to keep the secret from spilling to their friends. If people couldn't tell his face was red before, they could now.

Uraraka saw the way Mina teased him out of the corner of her eye, but she decided to pay attention to something else. She had classes to focus on and hero training to do, and she didn't have time to waste her energy on being jealous. Besides, there was nothing to worry about if her friend was only teaching him how to dance, right?

 **\- o - o - o -**

"What's up with you and Midoriya all of a sudden?"

Mina wasn't ready for that kind of question. She'd just gotten done setting her tray down on the cafeteria table, and all she wanted to do was have a good lunch before she had to go back to class. But Kirishima has other plans.

"I'm teaching him how to dance, and we kinda just started talking. No big deal."

"You're telling me he's learning how to breakdance? I can't imagine it," said Kaminari. He must've wanted in on the conversation now, too, especially after hearing something like that.

She laughed at the thought of teaching Izuku how to breakdance. "No, I'm just teaching him how to dance in general. He scored a date with you-know-who."

Kirishima rose an eyebrow, a hidden talent of his he liked to flaunt. "Uraraka?"

"Yup." She was hoping they could move on to talking about something else, but Kirishima's eyebrow didn't fall. "What about it?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It's just kind of strange. I mean, Midoriya's Midoriya, and, well, you're you, and I could never see you two being friends. And even earlier this morning. I was in homeroom and I saw you walking in with all of _his_ friends, and I thought I was seeing things."

"Well that's what happens when you guys leave the dorms without me."

Kaminari put up his hands and backed off a little, like he wasn't guilty at all. "Okay, okay, we get it. Sorry."

"Anyway, Midoriya is actually pretty cool once you get to know him." She felt her lips tugging upward when she remembered the time they were laughing this morning, but she shook it off and forced a straight face.

Kirishima crossed his arms. "He does have a strong Quirk. But it's just weird seeing _you_ hang out with him."

She stretched, leaning against the back of the chair until the front legs came off the ground, hands tucked idly behind her head. "I needed a change of scenery. I can only hang around you guys for so long."

"Gotta agree with you there," Kirishima said, smirking as he side-eyed Bakugo. He was yelling about something incomprehensible just like he did everyday around lunchtime, and Kirishima sighed when he grumbled and turned away.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Long after it had gotten dark that night, Izuku was outside, dwindling his life away practicing his dance moves. He fell so many times his knees were starting to bruise, and he was beginning to get fed up with it. "I-I think Ashido told me to move my right foot first, but I don't know if it depends on what Uraraka does, and I'm not sure if my hands go on the waist or the shoulders..."

He bent down and hugged his knees and flipped to the last page in his notebook, searching through heaps of jumbled letters for something that would actually help him. But the problem was that he'd covered up all the notes he'd written with Mina with new ones from today because he didn't have any pages left, and he needed a new notebook. He should've seen that one coming.

"Curfew is in less than an hour," he muttered, groaning as he pulled his knees closer and hid his face in them. But he got up moments after that because he had a lot of work to do, and he didn't have time to wish he was Quirk training when he'd already done that for hours today.

"I-I'm pretty sure Ashido told me to do—"

"Midoriya! Hey, Midoriya, you won't believe the great idea I have!"

Izuku felt a little relieved, knowing his problems would soon be over. Nobody was that loud from that far away except for Mina.

She waved to him, one hand still behind her back like she was hiding something. A smug, triumphant kind of smile spread over her lips, and he tensed up a little. "What is it?" he asked.

"So basically, I asked Sato to cook something for me before bed, right? As a special request, since I missed dinner. Well, I looked out the window and saw you dancing, and then it hit me. Sato made katsudon. You love katsudon."

Izuku perked up. "D-did he make extra? He did, right?"

"Well, no. But I thought I'd give you some of mine." She pulled out what she was keeping hidden behind her back, and in her arms was a bowl of steaming hot katsudon, so alluring it made Izuku's mouth water. The smell of pork cutlet lingered around them in the air like it was something to bask in, fresh and warm and impossible not to love. His fingers moved by themselves, grabbing at the cloth as she put it back over the bowl. But she pulled it away, waving a finger in front of his face like he was a child.

"And that's where my idea comes in," she said, the smile that had disappeared a moment ago coming back. He pouted when he realized he wouldn't get to eat right away, because he wasn't the only one who skipped dinner. "Oh c'mon, Midoriya. It won't be that bad, I promise."

"If you say so."

"So now that you'll let me finish, my idea is that we're going to dance like usual, but we'll save the katsudon for the end. If you fall... less than five times, let's say, you can have half of my katsudon."

"You're bribing me, you mean?"

"Exactly. You can't say you don't want katsudon, can you?"

"N-not really." His hands welled up into fists, and he resisted the urge to grab the bowl right out of her hands and run with it. But he knew if he did that it would end up spilling, and then his chances of eating anything at all would be less than zero. Even though he wouldn't do that, he usually fell hundreds of times in one night, and he thought Mina was setting the standard way too high.

But he wasn't one to turn down a challenge.

She set the bowl a few feet from where they were, the smell a constant reminder that katsudon was on the line.

"Ashido?" he asked the moment she was back in earshot.

"What's up?"

"How'd you even know I liked katsudon?"

She was searching for a song, but she stopped for a second to look up at him. "Because you told me."

"I-I did?"

"Yeah. Just the other day, I think."

"And you remembered? Do you always remember that kind of stuff?"

She thought about it for a moment before drawing the conclusion that no, she usually didn't remember that kind of stuff. She wondered if her subconscious took the fact that Izuku loved katsudon and wrapped it up in a cute little box, tucking it away somewhere in the depths of her memories knowing she'd need it again. Maybe she had a second Quirk, one that allowed her to tell the future.

"Not usually, but I guess I just remembered this time around," she said.

"Oh. Well I'm glad you remembered."

She felt a little warm and fuzzy when he smiled at her, but she shook it off and got back to picking out a song. She'd consulted with Jirou recently, who'd said to practice with the kind of music that made people feel good because Present Mic would be the deejay.

And she thought she did a good job at that when she saw Izuku swaying his shoulders almost involuntarily, mouthing the lyrics under his breath. "Do you like this song?" she asked.

"U-um, a little."

So she played it louder. Loud enough for Izuku to hear, loud enough for him to just get hooked on the music and start dancing already.

But he was stubborn. "Ashido, can you turn it down a little? People might be trying to sleep."

She realized they were already halfway through the song. "No one's asleep before curfew, Midoriya. Hurry up and start dancing before the song ends."

 **\- o - o - o -**

Mina ran inside and grabbed another bowl and another set of chopsticks, surprised and slightly disheartened that she'd be giving half of the katsudon she'd been so eager to eat to Izuku. It wasn't like she hadn't believed in him, but she'd just set the bar so high she thought he couldn't handle it. Apparently he could, though, because otherwise he wouldn't have a bowl of katsudon in his hands.

"So you're sure I only fell four times?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. That was, like, twenty times better than I've ever seen you dance before. You should be happy," she said, getting comfortable and sitting cross-legged. The grass was cold against her calves.

He nodded, swallowing half of the pork cutlet bowl in one bite, and then he started to talk. "I-it must've been the katsudon thing, because this is really good."

It wasn't until Mina took a bite that she understood where he was coming from. It was heavenly. Or about as heavenly as pork cutlet could get. She just wished she'd eaten it while it was still hot, because now the pork was a little cold.

She smiled and looked up at the sky, as if to thank the gods for the meal. Or maybe Sato, if he was up there. "I knew Sato was good at cooking, but I didn't think he was this good. I thought he liked to bake more."

"He told me he'd rather bake, but he's good at cooking too. They usually go hand and hand, right?"

"I think so," she said, mouth too stuffed with katsudon to care.

Their bowls were cleared not even a few minutes later, and the two of them were too full to go back inside yet. So they laid back against the grass and looked up at the stars, the stillness of the night becoming something they got used to.

Mina usually hated the quiet, but this was the kind of quiet that made her feel at peace, made her relax and wish it would last forever, almost like it was supposed to be there.

"Hey, Ashido?" Izuku asked eventually.

"Yeah?"

"Random question, but do you think there's an end to the universe?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Like, do you think it goes on forever?"

Stars and constellations were Uraraka's thing, not hers. "Why are you asking all of a sudden, Midoriya?"

"W-well, last night I was in the common area, and Uraraka asked me about it."

She smirked. "Oh, so you and her were alone? What were you guys doing, huh?"

Izuku's breath caught in his throat, and he rolled around so he couldn't see Mina's face anymore. Because if he saw her smirking like that any longer, his brain might have short circuited and shut down.

He took a while trying to find the right words to explain himself, and Mina was worried she might've broke him. For some reason she had this strange, unfamiliar feeling that even though she usually loved teasing him, especially about Uraraka, she didn't this time around. It made her chest tighten a little.

"I-I-it wasn't like that! T-there were other people in the room," he said, waving his hands in front of his face in defense.

"I know, I know. It was a joke," she said between laughs. The redness left his face. "I bet you guys got teased, though, didn't you?"

He thought about it. Nobody had said anything, but they got a few looks from their classmates. "Not really. W-why would we have?"

It was then that Mina realized she'd dug herself a grave, and it was far too late for her to fill it back up and pretend it was never there. "W-well... I _might_ have let it slip to the girls that Uraraka asked you to the dance... possibly."

He was quiet for a second. "A-Ashido, this is a joke, right?"

She drew in a heavy breath, the final calm before the storm. "Nope."

"Why would you tell them?"

"It was a sleepover, and I kind of just—I don't know—accidentally mentioned it. And then everyone kinda pressured Ochako into telling the truth."

He rolled over so that he was facing away again. "Now everyone is gonna know."

"I'm surprised Ochako didn't tell you this already."

"She knows I do bad with rumors and stuff like that."

"Oh." For once in her life, Mina didn't have anything to say.

And then it went quiet, and this time it was the bad kind of quiet. Awkward and excruciating, the kind of quiet that spelled out Izuku's disappointment without him even having to tell her.

"I can't believe you," he mumbled, burying his face in his shirt where no one could see him anymore.

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not, especially after what Izuku had said previously, but eventually the tension got so unbearable that she reached over and tapped his shoulder.

"Midoriya. Hey, Midori, I never answered your question. The one about the universe."

She vowed to never use that nickname, but she didn't really care anymore. She just wanted him to turn around.

She tapped his shoulder again. "Midoriya. I'm sorry, okay?"

He untucked his knees and rolled back around, but his eyes landed on the sky instead of on her.

"Can we just forget it? I can find out how to make katsudon. Maybe I can get Ochako to make some for you."

She realized she hated this feeling, the feeling of guilt that came along with knowing Izuku was mad at her. She hated it whenever any of her friends were mad at her, but for some reason it hit her the hardest when it was him.

"I-it's just . . . I wanted to keep Uraraka and I a secret until our second year began. And we're not even really t-together yet anyway."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Let's just forget about it."

Letting out the breath she'd been holding, Mina crossed her legs and put her hands behind her head, eyes up at the stars now. "So what do you think? Does the universe go on forever?" she asked.

"Didn't I ask you first?"

"Yeah, but I want to know what you think."

It was quiet for a moment as he thought about it. "I don't think it does. It has to end somewhere, right?"

"I think you're wrong about that."

"W-what? Why?" He propped himself up on one elbow. If Mina wanted a debate, he wasn't afraid to give one to her.

"Just—I don't know. I hope you're wrong about that, at least. I know there's a lot of evidence against an infinite universe, but it's just cool to imagine, y'know?"

"Not really. It sounds kinda scary to me, knowing the universe is just a bunch of never ending empty space."

"Have you even looked at the sky before, Midoriya?" She began pointing at all the little stars visible to the naked eye, double-checking every once and a while to make sure he was following along. He was. "Those stars are more than just empty space. Give them some credit."

"They just look like dots to me."

"Midoriya!" Her voice was laced with sarcasm, because she knew that he knew he was being ignorant.

"What?" he said, smiling knowingly.

"Those little dots are billions of times bigger than you. So if you want to keep thinking that way, I'm just gonna tell you you're wrong."

"Haven't you heard of the Big Bang Theory, Ashido?"

"Of course I have, but it sounds kinda boring, y'know? Like, the universe was just created one day, and then it kept expanding forever? Where's the fun in that?"

"It doesn't have to be fun for it to be true."

She turned to face him, resting her head in the palm of her hand. Her eyes fell to the ground, though, fingers pulling at the grass. "You need to think outside the box sometimes."

He decided to take her advice and tried to think of something spectacular that could've created the universe—a time warp, a black hole, maybe aliens or some other higher power. But nothing seemed to sit right with him. And when the wind blew the branches of the tree they'd been lying under between him and the night sky, he sighed and gave up on his efforts to think unrealistically. "But the Big Bang Theory is the most likely explanation."

"Most likely doesn't mean anything. Not if it hasn't been proven yet."

"Then what would you imagine an infinite universe being like?" he asked.

There was a long pause as Mina's gaze began to wander. She eventually thought of something, and then her eyes settled on him. "I've never really thought about it before. Maybe the universe is just made up of a bunch of parallel universes that go on forever. Like, if I traveled far enough, I'd end up back at Earth, and then I'd see me again."

Izuku wondered if he'd find a version of him that was still quirkless, still weak, still being bullied by Bakugo. Maybe he'd meet himself as the number one hero. "That's weird, but kinda cool."

"I know, right? And then maybe I could meet myself, and I'd find a version of me who's flawless. And I bet if I kept going, I'd meet other me's who are traveling the universe, too."

She'd been looking him in the eye the whole time she was talking, and once there was a silence, she realized her stomach was starting to feel funny. Were those butterflies? She shook it off, told herself she was only getting them because she wasn't used to making eye contact with boys. And it was only for the briefest of seconds, really, because she looked down and began to pick the grass again before the butterflies morphed into anything more.

He turned over onto his back. "Too bad the Big Bang Theory is probably true."

"It's not confirmed yet though, is it," she said, her voice firm because she knew that for a fact. She thought Izuku should know it too.

And he definitely got the memo. "No it is not."

"So what did Ochako say when she asked?"

"S-she said she thought it ended somewhere, but she wished it was infinite."

"What did you say?"

"I told her I didn't know. What should I tell her if she asks again?"

"Say it's infinite."

"Okay, I guess I'll say it's finite."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed a fistful of grass and chucked it at him, and then he sat up and brushed it off. He wasn't about to throw any back at her because he didn't want to pick a fight so late at night. "Got it. It's infinite."

She smiled knowingly. "Good."

That was the moment they heard another voice in the dark, and Mina could recognize that red hair from anywhere. "Ashido, Midoriya, you know curfew is in ten minutes, right?" Kirishima said as he showed them his phone. Sure enough, it was 9:50 p.m.

The two of them hurried into the nearly empty common area, and they thanked Kirishima before heading upstairs. Izuku got right in bed upon arriving in his dorm room, thinking about how broad the universe was and then about how much easier it was getting to talk to Mina. Just last week he would've been stuttering out of his mind, and because of that fact he went to sleep with a smile on his face.

But what he wasn't aware of was that Mina, lying face up in bed two floors above him, couldn't fall asleep if her life depended on it. She couldn't stop thinking about the butterflies.


	4. Chapter 4 - A Good Feeling

**A/N:** _Honestly didn't know what to title this, and I don't think it captures the idea of the chapter very well. I had a lot of trouble writing this one and I was editing it for a while, but it still didn't meet my expectations. I'm worried the dialogue is cringy and the characterization is off. Let me know what you think. I'm super excited to write the next couple of chapters, but it might be a long wait since winter break just ended for me and I'm not going to have a lot of free time._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

"Is it cool if I eat lunch with you today, Midoriya?"

He was this close to jumping out of his seat when he heard a voice arise out of thin air, but when he met eyes with a familiar shade of pink, he breathed a small sigh of relief. It was only Mina, standing over his desk eagerly with this huge smile on her face, bouncing on her toes in a way that made her seem impatient.

Izuku took a second to reassess the question, shoving his books into his desk all the while. But he knew what his answer would be without even thinking about it. The two of them had been getting a lot friendlier lately, talking about the universe and his improving dance moves and other not-so-important things, so he wasn't opposed to the idea. In fact, it was starting to get a little boring, only surrounded by five people he actually talked to during lunch break, and he knew she would be the perfect person to stir the pot. "Sure," he said, getting up and meeting his friends at the doorway. He beckoned Mina over when they all turned to leave. None of them seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary yet.

It wasn't until he was out of the classroom and heading to the cafeteria that he remembered something important. "Where are you gonna sit, Ashido?"

"Can't I just sit next to you?"

He hesitated for a few seconds too long, wondering how to put it into simple terms. She had asked to sit next to _him_ , after all. As much as he wouldn't have minded sitting next to her, he didn't want to upset Uraraka. "W-well, Uraraka is kinda sitting next to me."

Mina's eyes traveled to the ground, feeling like an idiot for not realizing the obvious. "Oh, yeah, I can't believe I didn't think of that before. I could just sit with Ochako or Tsuyu anyway."

"I don't know how many open seats there will be. Maybe I can get Iida to push down one."

"Whatever. I can always just figure it out when I get there," she said, shrugging as a soft sigh escaped her lips. She'd been betting on sitting next to him. But she really shouldn't have cared as much as she did, because she could always just sit next to Uraraka or Asui anyway.

When they arrived in the cafeteria, Izuku's friends finally seemed to take notice of her presence. She wasn't really bothered by it, though, because even if these weren't the people she hung out with in a regular basis, she knew everyone in class to at least a certain extent. Even Iida, who she thought was a stick-in-the-mud who needed to let loose a little.

"Y-you guys don't mind if Ashido sits with us, right? For today at least?" he asked, noticing the glances thrown her way. Most of them smiled and shook their heads, probably more glad than anything.

Seating was established more easily than expected, and Mina wondered if it was her lucky day because she ended up across from Izuku. Uraraka was next to him, of course, talking to Asui about something she couldn't make out over the sound of people's voices echoing off of the cafeteria walls.

It was really loud in there, and that became especially prominent when she couldn't make out a word of what Izuku said even when she saw his lips moving. And the tables were very wide, and she noticed Uraraka was much closer to him than she was.

"So, ribbit, why'd you decide to sit over here today?" Asui asked, glancing at Mina and raising her voice a little.

"Well I've been sitting in the same spot for the longest time, y'know? And I kinda needed a break from them." Mina's group of friends was sitting at the opposite end of the table, yet sometimes she could still hear Bakugo shouting despite the newfound distance. She noticed Kirishima and Kaminari eyeing her, and she smirked and stuck her tongue out at them.

She made Uraraka smile with that, and Asui let a subtle laugh slip even though she tried to cover it up. Iida ate in relative silence, his glasses fogging up as he reviewed his notes without paying any attention to her, and Todoroki was just Todoroki, stoic and unfazed. Her eyes automatically turned to Izuku for some form of entertainment. He, unsurprisingly, had his notebook open, flipped to a page about Ectoplasm. He was their math teacher. They had that class after lunch.

He was flipping between multiple pages now, mumbling under his breath. "What'cha reading, Midoriya?" she asked.

"Nothing." He was about to hold his notebook close, but two pink hands beat him to it as they reached out and stole it from his arms. "W-what are you doing, A-Ashido?"

"I've been wondering what you've been writing in here," she said, pulling at the corner of the first page.

He was red in the face but gave her a nod anyway. He would let her look through his notebook just this once. It wasn't like he had any personal notes inside or anything about the secrets of his Quirk; these notes were just the ones he carried around in school about the Quirks of his teachers and fellow classmates. And he really didn't mind if Mina looked, just like he didn't mind if Iida or Uraraka or any of his other friends did.

"Wow. You have notes on, like, everything in here, Midoriya! I don't think I've taken this many notes in my whole life," she said, shuffling through the names of some heroes she couldn't recognize until she found notes about Class 1-A. "I wonder if I'm in here."

She found herself, eventually, after a whole lot of page-turning. There were notes about her Quirk at the top of the page, and a quick sketch of her in her hero costume in the center. He wrote that her Quirk was strong, good to have during a situation of attack.

And that's when her eyes traveled to the bottom corner of the page, a spot she was thankful she didn't miss. He'd drawn her in the middle of breakdancing, a few little sketches being enough to bring her moves to life even on the two-dimensional plain of a piece of paper, and in very, very small print underneath, he'd written something that made her heart beat just a little bit harder.

 _She's an incredible dancer._

Butterflies were budding in her stomach, but she swallowed them down before they got to be too much. She'd been noticing them lately, becoming more and more prominent since that night they were talking about the universe not too long ago. Making it a habit to ignore them was something she sought out to do.

"Where do you find the time to write all of this?" she asked.

"Usually I write them down at lunch, or whenever I'm in a good mood."

"And I can't even find the time to finish a full page of math notes." She let out an exaggerated sigh, one that made Izuku laugh.

Mina felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Iida looking stern as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "Ashido, I think it's important you get those done in class."

"Believe me. I try to, but sometimes I just don't have the motivation."

"I can understand why it might be stressful, but please try and work on it."

She nodded, a little relieved when Iida went back to minding his own business. Izuku whispered her name quietly enough so that she was the only one who could hear, and she leaned against the table to get a little closer to him. "D-don't tell Iida I said this, but sometimes I lose motivation, too. That's… kinda how I end up going through so many notebooks. I work on them in school," he said.

"I don't believe that."

"But it's true. Honest."

"But you have, like, some of the best grades in the class!"

He looked down at his notebook. She'd given it back a few moments earlier, and he wasn't about to let it go again. "School kinda comes easy for me."

Mina noticed something when he peered back up at her—a grain of rice. "Midoriya, there's something on your cheek."

"O-oh, there is?" He brought his hand up to his face, but nothing came off. "Did I not get it?"

She should've been more specific. "No, it's on the other—"

But she couldn't say anything else, because her voice was cut off by the girl sitting beside him. "H-here, I'll get it," Uraraka said, fetching a handkerchief and bringing it up to his cheek. His ears became red as her hand grazed his skin; the thought of a girl being so close to him had always seemed foreign until now. Neither of them caught on to the fact that their friends were looking at them.

Todoroki cleared his throat, and that's when the pair remembered they were still in public. Mina wanted to tease the two of them as they both turned this unnaturally bright shade of red, but her gut was telling her not to. She ended up ignoring it and getting up to buy another bottle of water instead.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Once lunch had ended, everyone made their way back to class, waiting for word from their teacher that they'd have to focus on schoolwork again.

"I want everyone looking up to the front of the classroom."

Their voices ceased suddenly as they turned their attention to Mr. Aizawa, his orders becoming the number one thing on their minds. All Might was standing next to him, folding his arms in a way that made him look rather antsy to speak up. He cleared his throat. "Alright, young heroes, it's important that I have your attention, because you're about to get a training exercise in order to prepare you all for final exams." He turned the projector on, the board displaying a layout of Ground Beta. "You'll be assigned to work with a partner. Now before anyone asks, we've already picked the teams at random, so there will be no choosing your partners." A few members of the class groaned, but most of them just shrugged and waited for further instructions. The only one who seemed to pipe up was Mineta, unsurprisingly.

Iida raised his hand. "What exactly does this exercise entail, sir?"

"I was just about to get to that, young Iida! It's going to be both a form of rescue training and combat training, in the sense that each team will get a flag that they will have to protect. Your team will try to steal as many of the other flags as possible while also protecting your own, because if your flag gets stolen, your team is eliminated."

Mina tilted her head to the side, the general idea of the assignment sounding oddly familiar to her. "So then... it's like a giant game of capture the flag."

"Precisely, young Ashido. Your total score will be calculated by averaging the number of flags your team stole and which place your team was eliminated in. The exercise will take place next Monday at Ground Beta, giving you the weekend to come up with a plan. As a class, you'll be heading to Gym Gamma after school today to practice."

Mr. Aizawa sat up a little straighter. "Your partners are on the board," he said before bundling in his sleeping bag, leaving All Might to be bombarded with questions he didn't want to answer himself.

Izuku's eyes were glued to the chalkboard at the front of the room, roaming down the list in search of his name. He let out a huge sigh of relief when he realized he wasn't paired up with Bakugo, because he would've ended up dead before the match even started. Knowing that he was paired up with Uraraka made him feel a lot better.

Mina turned around and met eyes with red. She found Kirishima was looking right back at her, clenching his fists confidently as he smiled a toothy grin. There wasn't really anyone more fit to be her partner than him, and with Quirks that contrasted each other perfectly, she had a feeling this exercise would be a piece of cake.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Class 1-A headed over to Gym Gamma to train that afternoon, work with their Quirks and come up with a strategy. The battlefield had already been manipulated to their liking, a lot like the urban streets of Ground Beta where the exercise would officially take place.

"I'm really glad we got paired up, Deku!" Uraraka said, hands bundled up at her chest as she gave him a warm smile. They were sitting atop a rock, somewhere comfortable where they could devise a strategy.

"S-so am I."

"The chances we'd end up as partners were pretty slim, huh?"

He nodded, and then the sound of explosions caught his attention. "I figured out a plan during class."

Uraraka smiled. "Already?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about it all day. I think one of us could be on offense and one of us could be on defense."

"I'm guessing I'm on defense?"

"That's what the plan is. Y-you could use your Quirk to make a barrier of debris around our flag, and then if anyone got close, they'd have to waste a lot of time breaking through. And if anyone _did_ manage to break through, you could use your Quirk to release rocks from the sky like you did in the Sports Festival. Or you could just make the person float if that doesn't work."

Her eyebrows furrowed once she took the time to really process his idea. "That's great and all, Deku, but we're gonna be on Ground Beta. There aren't really any rocks there, so what am I gonna use?"

"Well, I'm sure there will be plenty of debris made during battle. And maybe I'll stay on the defensive with you until someone attacks, so that way you can use the debris from that fight to make a wall. I-I kinda have a feeling that Kacchan might attack us pretty early, and he can be reckless."

He flashed her the kind of smile that made her feel warm, almost like it was infectious, and she thought her cheeks would catch fire. She could never come up with a plan like that in such a short time, and he'd already thought it out so thoroughly, too. But he was Izuku, after all. "That sounds good!" she said, giving him a thumbs up.

"W-we should start training now, Uraraka. Maybe you can figure out how much you can lift at once and I can work on close combat skills—"

"There's something that I want to ask you first, though."

Izuku wiped the smile off his face when he noticed she wasn't looking at him anymore. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Um, please don't get mad at me for asking, but it's about Mina. It's just… I've noticed you talking to her a lot lately. A-and it's just been bothering me." Uraraka was twirling her hair around her fingers now, every so often meeting his eyes as she waited for an answer. She was worried she was coming off as jealous.

"Uraraka, are you saying…"

His voice trailed off for a moment, and so she continued. "You two are just friends, right?"

Uraraka figured she'd gone off into the deep end by now, ventured past the point of no return, and she felt like she should've shut her mouth a long time ago. But to her surprise, she heard something that sounded like laughter. No, it _was_ laughter. Izuku was actually _laughing_ at her, like he thought it was a joke. "Seriously, Uraraka, you have nothing to worry about. She's just a friend."

She lost her words for a moment, fiddling with her fingers in her lap. "O-oh, yeah, I kinda just wanted to ask since she sat with us at lunch today and everything, and it just kinda surprised me when you two became friends so—"

"There's nothing going on with us, Uraraka. I-it's just because of the whole dancing thing. She's a great friend, but there's nothing more to it," he said, the little bit of laughter in his voice earlier suddenly vanishing. Somewhere in the middle of all that, though, he felt like he wanted to smile. He thought it would be a good way to reassure her, so he did.

"Well, okay, but she just seems kinda—"

"Uraraka."

"Sorry, sorry. Just forget I said anything."

He remembered something, something he'd wanted to ask for a while. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"W-why do you like me so much?"

He was expecting her to get flustered, go red in the face maybe, but instead she just let this content kind of smile spread over her lips, looking up at the sky and then back at him. "I've liked you for a while, Deku. Um, I-I guess it stemmed from admiration. I thought you were cool, a real hero with real motives and morals." She was tapping her fingers together again, eyes down on her lap as her smile got a little brighter. "And then I got to know you more, and I started having feelings for you."

He just stared at her for a second, sitting there with his lips parted, almost like he'd fallen flat off the face of the Earth and was too taken aback to think of something to say next. He never could've imagined a girl would like him like that, have so much sincerity in her words as she spoke of him like a role model, like someone she truly felt for. He really hoped she wouldn't ask him the same thing back, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to come up with something as heartfelt as she did. "That's—wow. T-that's a lot."

"Yeah," she replied.

There was a heavy silence. "I-I think we should really start training. We've already wasted a lot of time," he said.

She stood up and let out the bundle of nerves she'd been harboring in one quick breath. "Okay. Let's get started, Deku!"

 **\- o - o - o -**

Mina buried her knees into her chest further, trying her damnedest to rule out the god-awful silence as it surrounded her like a heavy cloud. Maybe that would help her think of something worthwhile to say.

She knew she needed to focus, but she didn't feel all that guilty about being devoid of any ideas because Kirishima wasn't saying anything either, and coming up with a plan was hard. And it wasn't like she was half-assing her attempt to think of with something. It was just that neither of them were all that bright.

"Maybe we should just wing it. Who says we wouldn't do better that way?" Mina suggested, groaning as she leaned back against the sharp edge of a stone. It was a pretty lackluster attempt to model the side of a building, but it was probably the best one they'd get until the exercise on Ground Beta.

"Gotta agree with you on that one. I'm drawing a blank, and we have all weekend anyway. We can come up with something later," Kirishima said.

"But still… we got all that homework, and I really don't wanna be stressing over something else on top of that."

He furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to face her. "Right. So then here's a question that could help us: are we gonna stick together or are we doing this separately?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we gonna get the flags as a team, or is one of us gonna stay and defend?"

She brought a finger to her chin and let her eyes wander. "Well your Quirk is best suited for defense, and mine is best for offense, so then I think we should do it separately. But I don't know if I can get a lot of flags by myself."

He smiled, his lips turning up ever so slightly. "Sure you can. Haven't you seen yourself in battle?"

She shrugged. "I don't know—I guess so. It kinda depends on who I'm up against."

"You'll do fine, Ashido. I'll keep up a solid defense. Not even Bakugo is gonna get through me."

"Okay, if that's what you think. But you're gonna have to, like, buy me a smoothie or something if you're the reason we get an F."

"A smoothie?"

"Yeah, a smoothie!"

He laughed, and it was the moment he snorted—accidently, he'd add, if she'd given him the chance—that made Mina start laughing, too. He took a breather before composing himself enough to say, "So we're pretty much winging it otherwise, then?"

She shrugged again. "We can if you want. But we might be able to think of something before Monday."

"Maybe. Whatever happens happens, I guess," he said. There was a short silence before he brought up something new. "Okay, but can we talk about you abandoning us at lunch today? To sit with _Midoriya_?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that." She rubbed the back of her neck, starting to sweat a little. "I wasn't really planning on it, but in homeroom I started thinking, Why not? So I decided to ask him, and when he said okay, I guess I had no reason not to. His table was pretty nice, actually," she admitted.

Kirishima smirked, and it was the kind of smirk that made her feel a little uneasy. "You really like him, huh?"

"W-what's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, as a friend? What did you think it was supposed to mean?"

Mina watched him raise an eyebrow, and she couldn't believe how fast she'd jumped to the wrong conclusion. She noticed Izuku in her peripheral vision, training his heart out with Uraraka not too far away from him, and for some reason she didn't want to look back at Kirishima in fear of what face he'd be making. Still looking away, she said, "Oh, nothing. Of course I like him as a friend."

She was about to meet eyes with Kirishima again, but she had to stop and do a double-take. Since when did she stutter?

The sound of rocks clattering against the ground drew Mina's attention to the fact that they were still sitting on this rock, unmoving. "You wanna start training before it's too late?"

He stood up confidently, swimming in an aura of ambition. "Can't believe you had to ask before I did, Ashido."

 **\- o - o - o -**

It was getting late, and most of Class 1-A wanted to live out the rest of their Friday night before it was too late. They all agreed to head back to the dorms at around the same time.

Mina snuck up behind Izuku and popped out by his side, hands curled neatly behind her back. "Hey, Midoriya! You come up with a plan yet? You wanna tell me about it?"

He stood a little taller. He'd expected Mina to surprise him this time. "We've got a plan, but i-it's supposed to be a secret."

For what seemed like the millionth time in the last few weeks, she realized she was smiling. It was like something that had become a habit, something she'd do even when the time didn't call for it. "That's a let down. You probably don't wanna hear ours, because—guess what—we don't really have one!"

"You're with Kirishima, right? I'm sure you guys will think of something."

"I don't know about that. Maybe it'll come to me later when I'm trying to fall asleep, but who really knows?"

"Don't think about it too much, and I bet it will come to you," he said, smiling.

She realized he had a very nice smile. Something about it made her return his with one of her own until her cheeks hurt too much for her to keep it up.

As they got closer and closer to the dorms, she split up with him and found her friends, thinking that whatever it was that was making her feel this way was actually pretty nice.


	5. Ch 5 - Where the Moon Meets the Ocean

**A/N:** _I'm sorry for the long wait. Right after I posted the last chapter I came down with something and was sick for a week and half, and I had no motivation to write. This chapter is also really, really long, so it took forever to complete on top of that. Just a fair warning—it's 7000 words, and I didn't want to split it in two._

 _There is a_ _manga spoiler in this chapter, having to deal with the most recent arc in the manga. I felt I should've included it, but if you anime-watchers haven't been spoiled already, I have a feeling you won't know what I'm talking about. Just a heads up: it's near the end of the chapter._

 _I promise the story is going to get more interesting, and it's not going to remain happy like this forever. Next chapter will be a turning point. I'd love to know if you guys think my chapters are boring or not. I'm worried a lot of it is just filler, purely building relationships. I'd love to hear reviews about that, and I hope you enjoy this._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

The next morning would prove to be an eventful one, and Mina woke up feeling a little too energetic for her own good. She enjoyed mornings like these, bright and beautiful and warm enough to let sunlight seep through the curtains before the sun even rose above the horizon.

She jumped out of bed and was downstairs no less than ten minutes later, and she must've been up extra early for a Saturday because Jirou and Hagakure were the only ones down there. This was all a little peculiar to her, seeing as she was usually a very heavy sleeper and often wouldn't wake up until noon, but she made room for herself on the couch anyway, secretly hoping she'd impeded on an interesting conversation.

There wasn't anything exciting to talk about, though, evident through Jirou's words. "You're never up this early, Mina," she said.

She shrugged. "I fell asleep early last night, I guess. It's a Saturday. What's there not to be happy about?"

"The fact that we have to train for that Quirk exercise all day," Hagakure said, wreaking havoc on Mina's charisma. "You're lucky, Mina. You've got Kirishima as a partner; your Quirks are pretty much perfect for each other."

A heavy silence fell upon the three of them as if it only served a purpose to make Hagakure rewind a little bit. Taking the hint, she took in an unusually long breath before letting out this suggestive "hmm," almost as if to pick apart and piece together what exactly she just said. "Your Quirks are pretty much _perfect for each other_ … aren't they."

Mina grimaced a little inside, knowing her invisible friend was about to imply something pretty much impossible. "Toru, you know I don't like him like that. He's a good friend, sure, and he's a good partner for the Quirk thingy or whatever it's called. Doesn't mean I want to marry him," she said, smirking as she gave her a light shove on the shoulder. "You, of all people, should know that best."

"T-this has nothing to do with me, Mina. You're telling me you don't feel anything for Kirishima at all? _Nothing_?"

Mina shook her head. "Nope. Not a thing."

Jirou leaned forward a little and gave Hagakure one of those looks that was supposed to intimidate her. "Maybe she just doesn't like anyone right now, Toru."

"But that doesn't mean he couldn't like you," Hagakure said, ignoring Jirou's advice and glancing at Mina again.

Okay, now she was implying something that was more than idiotic. It was literally unthinkable.

But Mina couldn't exactly say anything about it, because her friends didn't need to know that yet. And even if she did, they'd ask her to prove it, and that wasn't something she could do without any repercussions. She definitely didn't want those right now.

She decided her best bet was to avoid the question. "He—just... trust me. He doesn't like me, okay? Let's stop talking about this now. It's Saturday, so why don't we watch a movie or something, or maybe we can make an early breakfast. I'm down for pancakes if anyone else is."

Jirou nodded, hoping to get up and make some, but Hagakure was still persistent. By the way she huffed, folding her arms over her chest (evidently so based on the way her clothing wrinkled), it was clear she wasn't backing down.

"Exactly, Mina, you're a genius! It's Saturday, so why don't we talk about romance like we always do? Why is it that when we bring up your own love life, you avoid the question?"

Mina was starting to get fed up with how pushy she was being, but she masked it with a little smile and some sarcasm. "Because _I don't have one_. I'm sorry, but it's literally that simple."

"Fine. But just because you don't like someone doesn't mean there isn't someone who likes you. I still think Kirishima's got a thing for you."

"He doesn't, okay? I'm being serious."

"So, then… what do you think about Bakugo?"

"I mean, he's good-looking, sure, but he's got a bad attitude."

Hagakure was getting antsy, as she was just now realizing that most of Mina's friends were boys. "How about Kaminari?" she asked.

"He's a bit of a perv, and if he liked me, I think he'd be pretty vocal about it."

"Sero?"

"Definitely not. He doesn't stand out at all."

"Then… Midoriya?"

Mina's eyes traveled to the ground, hoping to say something in denial, but she wasn't sure she could wipe the scowl off her face in time to look up without giving away her anger. Her shoulders were tense and her palms were sweatier than usual, and she was this close to popping off because now Hagakure was throwing out the names of whoever she could think of, whether or not they were a viable option. And she'd even stooped low enough to throw out Izuku's name. Something about that pissed Mina off, and she couldn't exactly say why. "Why does his name pop up everywhere? I just… don't like him, okay? Of course I don't, he basically has a girlfriend."

Jirou had been watching her friends fight for a while now, and it was time for her to speak up. "Guys."

She was ignored, her existence unacknowledged. Like she hadn't even heard her, Hagakure said, "Well, I mean, you two have been such good friends lately that people can't help but assume things."

Mina desperately wanted to change the topic, because her face was getting increasingly hotter and she was starting to get anxious. Something about this whole conversation made her feel open, exposed, like she was going to crack under the pressure. But she wouldn't allow herself to. She had put up a fence, and she wasn't going to let Hagakure break through it. "Well then tell them they're wrong, because I don't like him."

" _Guys_."

"Then you've gotta like Kirishima. C'mon, Mina, you can admit he's a little cute, right?" Hagakure asked.

"Toru, I don't like him like that. I do _not_ like Kirishima, and I don't think he's cute. At all!"

"Okay, look. Sorry for being so pushy about it. It's just hard for me to wrap my head around, y'know? You two are just such good friends that I—"

Mina, finally pushed past her limit, made this big deal of throwing her hands in the air. "Alrighty, then! End of conversation. I don't like anyone right now. Period. That's it! That's all there is to it."

"GUYS!"

Everyone froze, eyes wide at the shear volume of her voice. Mina snapped her head around to see a very frustrated-looking Jirou and a pair of slippers beside her. Her eyes wandered upward to meet Uraraka's, standing over the three of them as she placed her hands on her hips. Oh, god, how long had she been standing there?

But based on the way she was smiling, eyes filled with this kind of innocence and sleepiness at the same time, Mina could safely say it hadn't been long. And it looked like Uraraka's expression wasn't going to waver, either. "So, who wants to help me make breakfast?"

 **\- o - o - o -**

Turned out Mina was more of a night owl than she thought she was, because most of the class was already downstairs by the time seven o'clock hit, helping Uraraka prepare a batch of somewhat decent chocolate chip pancakes (with the whipped cream on top, of course). She really needed to straighten out her sleeping schedule, because lately it was getting out of whack. She was going to bed late and waking up even later—except on the mornings she'd get up early and go for a jog—and it was starting to take a toll on her energy. But luckily today was an exception.

In the midst of cutting up her pancakes, Mina noticed that Kirishima was looking at her. "I've figured out the perfect training spot. You know that beach that's around here? Dagobah?" he asked, lips turning up into a smile.

Truth was, she couldn't think of a beach by that name if someone paid her to, but after some explaining by Kirishima, she realized it was the one that had mysteriously cleared up the year prior, making it a near-perfect spot to hone her skills and think of a plan. And as a bonus, she could practice that new move she was working on.

Feeling excited, she drew in a breath of anticipation. "Let's invite Bakugo and Sero, too! And we should bring Kaminari and Jirou, and I could _totally_ ask Midoriya to come. And, uh, I guess Uraraka would be coming too, then. You're cool with that, right? With inviting other people?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied frankly, stuffing his mouth with chocolate chip pancakes. He was biting off more than he could chew. Literally.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Kaminari and Jirou were down with the idea in a heartbeat, and, needless to say, Bakugo was the hardest to convince. They didn't say a word about Izuku, something they knew he'd freak out about later, but even with that out of the equation, he remained stubborn. It took a lot of coaxing on Sero's behalf to get him on board with it.

That meant Izuku was the only person left to ask, and since it was her idea in the first place, Mina was the one who was put to the task. It wasn't until she was laying on her stomach, draped over her bed as she swung her legs back and forth freely that she got the bright idea to FaceTime him. Even though they lived in the same building, she didn't think it was logical to ask him something so simple in person.

She realized she could see his room in the background once he picked up the call, filled to the brim with All Might action figures and other All Might memorabilia such as posters and comic books and pretty much anything she could think of. She'd seen his room once before, back when they first moved into the dorms, and she watched him get all flustered when the class mentioned what a huge nerd he was. At the time she saw it as a bad thing, and she decided to steer clear of him because of it. But now that she knew him better, now that they were friends, she wished she could go back and give her past self a karate chop right in the back of her head.

"H-hey, Ashido, uh, what's up?" he asked, laying in bed the same way she was. He had his phone propped up on a pillow, wondering why she hadn't just waited until later to talk to him.

"So, basically, Kirishima got this grand idea to go to the beach later for training. Y'know the one that used to be a junkyard? Yeah, that one. Pretty awesome, don't you think?" He nodded, and she took a short pause before continuing. "So, do you and Uraraka wanna come too?"

He wasn't about to let on that it was _him_ who cleared out that beach, especially since this was Mina he was talking to, and whatever came out of his mouth would be followed by a plethora of questions. "Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun. I just have to ask Uraraka, though," he said.

"Why don't you do it now? I'm sure she'll text back." She was going to say something else, the purpose of flustering him in mind, but she cut herself off before the words left her mouth.

"Okay, I will," he yawned, the screen becoming a blur.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah. I didn't go to bed early last night, and I had to get up early for my jog. So this is the result." He laughed a little.

"I would've just slept in!"

"I could never do that," he replied, piping up a little. His voice rose a few notes as he added, "Oh, and she just said yes, by the way." But that enthusiasm didn't last long, because his face was much closer to the camera when he reappeared on screen, his head resting in his arms as his eyelids began to flutter from drowsiness. He groaned, probably too tired to get through the rest of the day, and Mina figured he was letting his guard down.

Did he do that with Uraraka?

There was a moment when she couldn't take her eyes away. She noticed he had surprisingly longer eyelashes than she thought he did, and he had a lot more freckles than meets the eye.

She told herself to think about something else and decided the best way to do that was to keep talking. "Okay, great. We're leaving at six, by the way. I hope the stars will look nice. I've never been to the beach at night."

"It's supposed to be a full moon, I think."

She smiled. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Last night, on the balcony. I saw it and figured there would be a full moon within the next day or two," he said, acting more awake than he actually was.

"I don't think I've ever really paid attention to the moon."

"You should." There was a pause. "Okay, I think I'm gonna take a power nap now, Ashido," he said, yawning again. "So, uh, I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. See you later, Midoriya."

 **\- o - o - o -**

The beach was within walking distance of U.A.'s campus, only a mile or two further into the city than the dorms were. Mr. Aizawa was generous enough to let them leave as long as they stayed as a group and didn't stir up any trouble.

It was warm outside, surprisingly, seeing as it was the middle of winter, and Mina could've left without a jacket if she wanted to. But she decided to grab one anyway, just in case, and she was glad she did—it was windy, and the breeze hit her like a ton of bricks.

Izuku was trailing behind everyone else, Uraraka beside him, silently trying to blend into the crowd in front of him. Mina hadn't said anything about bringing other people, especially not Bakugo. He had assumed it would be just the four of them—Kirishima and Mina, and then Uraraka and him.

Feeling a little out of place, he hesitantly looked at Bakugo, who was whispering something in Kirishima's ear so loudly that it couldn't even be considered a whisper. "Who the hell said Deku was allowed come? I wanna know, because this is bullshit."

Izuku's eyes roamed to the ground before Bakugo had the chance to look his way, and, thankfully, it was only a short distance until they reached their destination. The air was naturally colder now, seeing as they were by the water, and he was wearing sweatpants but had forgotten to wear long sleeves.

Mina kicked off her shoes at the heels, undoing her jacket and throwing it to the ground. She'd always loved the beach, but the fact that it could look this beautiful was something she couldn't comprehend. The full moon only made it look a million times better.

She wasn't ready to start training yet, not like this. "I'm going down to the shore. Anyone wanna come with me?"

When there was no answer, she grabbed whoever was closest. Izuku, it turned out, whether he liked it or not. She was glad it was him because she got to laugh when he got all flustered, obviously reluctant to the idea of being dragged down to the edge of the ocean. "Ashido, where are we—"

Despite his hesitation, she didn't stop pulling. "C'mon, let's go see the water! I don't wanna miss this view, and no one else wants to come with me. So you will, won't you?" She felt guilty for trying to coax him into it, but she wasn't going alone.

She didn't really have to coax him into anything, though, because as soon as she began to speed up, he did too. He picked up his pace to match hers, worried he would have his arm ripped off if he didn't start sprinting. They ran full-speed all the way down to the shore, where the waves were pulled against the heels of their feet and urged them to go deeper. He slid off his shoes and set them down where they would stay dry, and then he pulled his pant legs up past his knees.

He looked at Mina, who was slipping her sweatpants off, and immediately went beet red. "W-what the—w-what are you doing?"

She was expecting him to react this way. "Relax. I'm wearing spandex underneath," she said, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "What did you _think_ I was doing?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin. "N-nothing!"

"Okay then, whatever you say," she teased. Still facing him, she began to wander backward until she was submerged up to her knees, arms folded idly behind her back as she waited for him to follow her, wincing all the while as she tried to survive the extremely cold temperatures. Eventually, she stopped. "Are you coming, Midoriya?"

She must've been insane to think he was going out that far, especially since the water was cold enough to freeze his toes off right where he was standing.

He stopped thinking that way, though, laughing at himself. Of course she was insane; she was standing in the middle of the ocean in the heart of winter—nighttime, no less—and the only explanation she could give was that she wanted to. And he was pretty sure she wouldn't have even minded it if her legs froze off.

But then again, he'd broken his arms so many times he should be dead already, and if he'd simply remembered he had legs he could've broken too, he would have saved himself from so much misery. So in a way, they were both a little insane.

He was surprised when he felt Mina grab his arm again, pulling him out to sea with enough strength to send him flying. But he regained his balance, finally taking notice to the numbness in his legs. "Ashido, i-its freezing!"

"Yeah, I know right? I think my feet are gonna lose circulation," she said, smiling. She was _smiling_.

And now so was he.

She trusted him enough to let go and led the way to where the water reached past their knees, Izuku still a little apprehensive at first because of the cold. But he waded, letting himself get used to the water, and even though he was going to die of hypothermia, he didn't really care. In fact, he hadn't felt so carefree in a long time.

Mina was just now realizing the risks she was taking by being in this position, standing out in the middle of the ocean when the water temperature was lower than anything she'd ever experienced before. But she wasn't ready to get out yet, because the moon looked so pretty from here and Izuku was standing next to her with this big grin on his face. "It's a full moon, just like you said it would be."

"Yeah. I didn't think it would be this pretty," he said, admiring the reflection it shone across the water.

There was a stretch of silence, neither of them willing to speak. They didn't want to ruin the moment. The only thing they wanted to hear was the waves, and the only thing that they wanted to see was the sky and the surrounding stars.

But eventually, the silence had to come to an end, so unaware of anything else she could do, Mina whipped around splashed him. She didn't douse him or anything like that; the risk of getting hypothermia was definitely there, and that was the only risk she wasn't messing around with, but she splashed him just enough to give him a good scare.

He was shocked, shivering, but he wasn't going to let her off the hook on this. He had vengeance on his mind. "Ashido, you've started war."

"Good!" she called, already taking off down the shoreline. If he was going to catch up to her (which he was definitely going to), he would run where it was dry, hoping to gain some speed on her and give his feet a break from the cold. She was fast, but he wasn't going to use One For All. He was going to play fair.

Mina couldn't judge how close he was to catching up to her because that would require looking back, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that right now. Not when she was flying forward, a spree of energy and optimism overtaking her. She wasn't tall by anyone's standards, but today her strides were longer and more powerful than what she was used to, and she didn't know running against the wind could be this easy, even if it did blow her hair in all the wrong directions.

She looked out over the water as her steps grew lighter, freer, and noticed the moon looked a hundred times brighter than it did before. Now she couldn't look anywhere but up, because the sky was becoming the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The stars—they came in so many different shapes and sizes, and they gave her the feeling that the universe was bigger than anything she could've imagined, boundless. It certainly looked that way.

But her high spirits wouldn't last for long, because nearly seconds after looking up from the ground, she tumbled over a rock and landed face-first into a mountain of sand. Izuku, who—little did she know—had cut down the distance substantially already, wasn't able to stop himself in time, ramming right into her backside and falling to his knees the same way she did. Worn out from all that running, both of them collapsed, cracking up at God knows what. Everything that went down in the last few minutes, probably.

Kirishima was probably over there waiting for her, but she didn't want to stand up yet. An adrenaline rush was coursing through her blood and her veins and eating away at her heart, which was beating a thousand times faster than what she was used to. And again, she couldn't say why, exactly, because there was no need for her heart to pound like this—they stopped running forever ago.

She eventually caught her breath. "See? Wasn't this worth it?"

He turned so that he was facing her, his smile astonishingly bright. He'd been to the beach plenty of times before with All Might, but to actually swim in it or even step past where the water reached his ankles was completely impractical to him. He didn't have anything against the ocean, but he only went there to train—nothing more, nothing less.

But now, somehow, Mina had gotten him to overcome that impracticality, breaking him out of his boundaries. He was pretty sure he had a newfound respect for her that had nothing to do with her Quirk or her will to become a hero or anything remotely related to heroics. It was a totally different kind of respect, a respect for her as a person.

He was beginning to wander off in his own headspace, and he snapped back into reality. "It was actually really fun," he replied.

"I think I'm going to come here more often. I mean, I knew the view would be pretty, especially at night, but wow."

"It was… What's the word?"

"Nice?"

He laughed. "No, it needs to be more descriptive than that."

"Why are you asking me, then? I've got, like, negative two words in my vocabulary."

"Because my mind is blank."

"If your mind is blank, than I might as well be brain dead. And I don't think we have to describe it with words, anyway. Let's just leave it as is."

He was smiling again. "Yeah, I think that's good," he said, meeting her eyes. All of a sudden her stomach was in knots, bundles, chalk full of butterflies she couldn't seem to shake. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, anything unnecessary to make her feel this way.

So then—why?

She had been asking herself that question a lot lately.

Feeling like she'd overstayed her welcome, Mina stood up and wiped off the sand that was still stuck to her. Besides, her jacket and sweatpants and phone were practically miles away, and they didn't have all night. "We should really head back now; I bet they're getting worried."

The legs of his sweatpants slid down to his ankles again as he rose to his feet. "O-oh, yeah. I guess we kinda ditched them," he laughed, a tremor in his voice. He wasn't the kind of person who ditched his friends, and he hoped Uraraka wasn't pissed off. She probably wouldn't be, though—she'd want to know if he was okay.

Mina popped a random question moments after they began waking. "Remember when this beach was a trash dump, Midori? It used to smell awful and look even worse, even from a distance." She laughed, the corners of her lips playing into a smile. "But then it just cleaned up all on its own, and everyone seemed to love it again. I'm surprised the people who did it didn't admit to it, especially when they could've gotten a cash prize or something."

He prayed he wasn't giving himself away by freezing up, letting his lips quiver at the corners. But he allowed himself to relax, remembering that it was probably just a coincidence since they were walking along the beach in question. "Maybe they didn't want to be on TV. Maybe they did it because they wanted to."

She smiled again, walking a few feet ahead of him. "You have a lot of faith in humanity, Midoriya. And then there's me, who can't seem to get over the fact that people—not just one person, but _multiple_ people—would destroy a beach this pretty."

"I just… don't like to judge people until I get to know them, I guess. It all really depends."

There was a silence, but she broke it when she looked out into the distance, taking notice of the looks on her friends' faces. "Ooh, Midoriya, can you see that? Kiri's giving me the stink eye! Isn't that just great?"

He hoped she was being sarcastic.

Thankfully, she answered that question on her own. "Okay, it's not great, actually. But I think everyone is waiting for us."

Turns out they had been waiting for a while, and they didn't look too happy. Uraraka was worried, not only for Izuku but also for Mina, and she wanted to make sure they were okay, just like he had predicted. Mina hurriedly put on jacket and sweatpants, listening to Uraraka tell Izuku about her rapidly increasing weight limit in the background—almost four tons, apparently—before bailing out and heading over to Kirishima.

He looked aggravated. "Dude, we were all waiting for you."

"Well I said I wanted to go see the ocean, and no one would come with me, so…"

"So you brought Midoriya?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I guess I just want to know why."

She shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest. It just felt like the right thing to do. And he was the closest person to me, and I was _not_ going down there alone."

But Kirishima wasn't paying attention to her anymore, and instead had his eyes on someone else, looking for the right opportunity to say something. After a minute or so, he found it, catching the interest of the person he was looking at. "Those explosions look good, bro," he blurted out.

Bakugo nodded, scoffing in Kirishima's direction as he wore the same scowl he always did. Kirishima counted that as a win in his book, relieved he didn't blow anything up or start any fights, especially not any that involved himself.

Little did he know, Mina had been watching him the entire time, snickering to herself quietly. "You're hopeless," she teased, smiling mischievously.

He shushed her, his eyes darting to the ground as he remembered her presence. "You're too loud."

She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that everyone was busy with their own problems. "Don't worry about it, Kiri, no one's listening. I wouldn't do that to you."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I know, but I'm scared you're gonna let it slip out by accident or something. I don't want the whole class knowing that I'm…"

"That you're gay? For _Bakubro_?"

He laughed, nervous. "Ugh, don't say it like that. It sounds disgusting." He paused, letting his smile falter. "But you're the only person who knows, so I guess I'm kinda just on edge."

"No, I totally get it. I'd be on edge too, if I were you." If a secret like that were to get out about her, she would probably lock herself in her room and cry endlessly until she dehydrated herself to death. Not a nice way to go, she assumed, but she'd prefer that over facing a less-than-desirable reality. She really didn't want to imagine the havoc it would cause if Kirishima's secret got out, especially if it got around to Bakugo.

It was sometime during the middle of fall when Kirishima told her he was gay for the first time, and crushing on Bakugo on top of that. She didn't know how to react; out of everyone he could've fallen for, Bakugo was the guy he got stuck with? She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach because his sexuality was still a complete mystery, and the chances that he was gay were probably low. But still, if not for the fact that he was her friend, she swore to him that she wouldn't tell a soul and that he was totally allowed to out her if she did.

He cleared his throat. "It just sucks because I don't even think he likes guys, and I don't wanna ruin the friendship we have."

Finally she had something romantic to talk about, unlike what Hagakure was interested in this morning. " _But_ , there's still a chance he could be, even if you guys haven't talked about stuff like that," she said, trying to fill him with some hope.

"I just wish there was a way to bring it up without asking him directly so that it doesn't have to be awkward."

She shrugged. "Your feelings are your feelings, Kiri. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to; you two can stay as friends."

"Yeah, I know."

His lips were forged into a frown, and she wanted to lift his spirits a little. "Hagakure thinks I like you. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's what all the girls think."

"That's probably the stupidest thing I've heard all night."

"Yeah, I know, right? She wouldn't stop bothering me about it this morning, and I had to keep telling her she was wrong!"

They were getting off topic, and Mina stopped herself, remembering what they came here to do. She had been thinking about this all night, and now, after all those ideas that had sprung up out of nowhere weaved together to create something good, she thought she had a pretty solid plan in mind. It was still rough around the edges, but it went a little something like this: before going off to fight on her own, Mina would set up a wall using Acid Veil, and then Kirishima would defend from there on out. She was the one who would steal the flags, using her new move she was working on to maneuver around everyone.

It was only an idea, a blueprint of a foundation that may or may not be successful, but Kirishima was already on board with it, calling it "a plan masterminded by the gods." It felt pretty good to be called a goddess because for once in her life, she actually felt like one.

But as Mina would soon come to find out, there was a fundamental flaw in her design, and it all boiled down to her Quirk. She called her new move new for a reason, because the amount of time and effort she'd been putting into it lately was limited. It never really worked before, so why would it work now?

She didn't have a name for it yet, the move she'd come up with, but that was the last thing on her mind. She shifted away from Kirishima and everyone else in the surrounding area and found an open spot a little further down the beach, a place where her Quirk wouldn't be a danger to anyone. She drew in a breath of hesitation and cupped her hands together, praying, _praying_ that her acid would end up going more than a few feet in front of her.

But, of course, the shot didn't make it any further than she expected it to, looping up a little before hurtling straight toward the ground where it soaked and fizzled and disappeared into the sand.

"Ugh, why is this so hard?" she groaned, dropping to her knees as she sighed in frustration. She crossed her legs and leaned against her arms as she cast them behind her, and then she let her eyes wander up to the sky. It was okay for her to take a break; she needed to get her shit together anyway in order to keep herself from losing it.

Back by the beach entrance where everyone else was gathered, Izuku was working on close range combat with One For All, honing in on the Vestiges' Quirks that he wasn't all that familiar with yet. He decided that maybe it was time he got away from Uraraka and Bakugo and anyone else who could distract him, so he started walking down the shoreline, only to find that he was heading in the direction of a certain pink-haired girl.

Mina noticed Izuku's figure in the dark, but she didn't bother to get up. "Hey, Midoriya. What're you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to get some training in away from the rest of the group, but…"

"Oh, okay. I can leave then, if you want."

He gave her a reassuring smile because that definitely wasn't his intention. "N-no! It's fine if you stay, I just wasn't expecting to see you."

"Oh."

He noticed how her energy had depleted substantially in comparison to when they first arrived. She lacked her sense of optimism, her usual ambitious attributes. "Um, is something wrong, Ashido? Are you okay?"

Completely fed up and more than happy to share her story with him, she gave in. "I'm trying out this new move I came up with where I cup my hands together and spray acid out of them, but it's not working! At all!"

"I can help," he offered.

She looked at him funny. "I don't want you to know about the plan I came up with Kiri, though."

"We're classmates, of course I can help. Just let me help you with the technical stuff, and you can work out your plan with Kirishima."

"That's true, how'd I not think of that?" she replied, a wave of aspiration washing over her. She wasn't going to give up this time.

At first it was a challenge; every technique he'd come up with would lead to a dead end, and he wasn't sure what he was missing. But as he continued to analyze the situation, searching for the smallest clues, he took notice of the smile she was wearing, way too bright for someone who was supposed to be fighting. A lightbulb went off in his head: she needed an enemy, something to villainize.

"Ashido, try to imagine something that you really hate, really despise, and I-I want you to pretend that's your target."

She spun around so that she was facing him, eyebrows furrowed. "Something that I hate?"

"Yeah. It can be a person, too."

Thinking about it for a moment, she came up with something that could be beneficial. She imagined what she thought the faces of the people who destroyed the beach would look like—the scum of the Earth, probably—and then took her aim, ready to blow them to pieces. Violence probably wasn't a good way to solve her problems, but she convinced herself this was purely hypothetical.

Maybe she was wrong about that though, because, miraculously, after all the struggle she'd been through, it worked. Her acid shot out like a canon, gunning straight for the heads of the enemies, and she began cheering before it even made it to her target. "Ohmygosh, it actually worked, Midoriya! Did you see that?"

She wished she could've hugged him—she enjoyed giving people hugs, especially if they were her friends—but suddenly she remembered Uraraka and didn't think that was such a great idea. That didn't stop her from smiling, though. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shouted, her voice laced with a certain sense of gratitude. She was overexcited, so much so that it probably wasn't a good thing, and she got a little to close to him for what he was comfortable with.

"N-no problem, Ashido. It's great that you've got this figured out. Although, now that I think about it, I did just help the enemy…"

"How'd you know what to do?" she asked.

"This is, um, gonna sound weird, but… you looked too easygoing, like you didn't have any drive to fight."

"You must have an eye for those kinds of things, Midoriya. I think that's pretty cool."

She was telling a half-truth—a white lie, of sorts—scared to admit that she thought it was more than pretty cool. She thought it was amazing; he was amazing.

Of course he was amazing, though; everyone in the whole world knew that. But she'd never really taken the time to appreciate it like she should have.

Slowly, she came back down to Earth, but she picked up the pace when she realized her cheeks were starting to flush. She hoped it wasn't noticeable. "I think I'm gonna go back now. Besides, you came here to train on your own, right?"

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to get away from everyone else."

She began her journey back to the rest of the group. "Okay, then. Thanks again, Midoriya," she replied, waving to him wholeheartedly.

He waved back subtly, shyly, and now she had his smile ingrained in her head. She searched the beach for Kirishima again, who wasn't all that surprised that she'd wandered off. He wasn't mad, either; he probably just accepted that this was a habit of hers by now. A peculiar one, she'd admit, but so far it was yielding positive results, and she definitely didn't want to give it up.

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

 **A/N:** _If you couldn't tell already, I'm introducing Kiribaku to this fic as well. I hope you guys like it so far (sorry if you're not a Kiribaku fan!), because things are gonna get... interesting, to say the least._


	6. Chapter 6 - What Happens in the Dark

**A/N:** _I made a few corrections on this chapter regarding Aizawa's Quirk. (I kinda messed it up...) It was mentioned in a few reviews, and it was bugging me since I'm kind of a perfectionist._

 _Hey, everyone. Again, this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I expected (6000 words). But I really loved playing with Mina's heart, and this one was really, really fun to write. I was anticipating it for a while, actually. The last line is a throwback to Chapter 2 if anyone is wondering. There are some parts of this chapter I don't really like and think are far too melodramatic, but this is kind of a turning point for the story, so I hope you guys like it! Also, I know the excuse of using a stopwatch to get them alone was kinda sad, but I really couldn't think of anything. (You'll see what I'm talking about later in the chapter.)_ _Anyway, I wanted to reply to some reviews on my last chapter. These will just be from the last chapter only. There will only be a few in here (the ones I think I actually need to address), but to those of you who simply said good job, thank you for the support._

 **Sewrtyuiop:** _I know it is taking a while for Mina to realize her feelings, but it will come soon, I promise. And when I said "interesting" last chapter,_ _I_ _didn't mean there would be any smut or anything like that. My mistake, I really should have made that more clear to everyone. You shouldn't miss too much by skipping moments between the two of them, though._

 **DangerDanger1989:** _I was planning on making the Kiribaku a surprise, but now that I look back on it, you are right, and there was no reason for me to do that. I should've dropped a few more hints, because the few I put in there weren't very obvious. I'm planning on building it up more, though, before anything really happens between them, but if I ever go back and rewrite this fic, I will make sure to fix that._

 _That's it, really. There were only a few I wanted to reply to. Thank you all for the follows and the favorites, along with the reviews!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

"Sorry if this is sudden, Deku, b-but... There's something I wanted to ask you." 

It was far too early on a Monday morning for either of them to be awake, but Uraraka had taken him completely by surprise, grabbing him by the wrist the moment he stepped foot downstairs. Despite Izuku's hesitance, she was persistent, ringing him around a corner where they'd be hidden from view. The look in her eyes was more fixated, more determined, than anything he was used to. She was serious, and Izuku knew not to take her lightly, especially when she had him pinned to the wall like this. 

Her hair smelled faintly of vanilla, warm and inviting. There was this closeness between the two of them that he wasn't used to, and he swallowed hard. He was sweating from head to toe. That attraction was there again, that nervousness he felt whenever Uraraka was around. And she was around him a lot, so much so that it didn't really affect him as much as it used to anymore. 

"Deku?" 

His eyes widened. "Huh?" 

He'd said it without a care in the world, an involuntary reaction to the sound of her voice, but it was enough to make him realize he'd spaced out. Uraraka had released her hold already, eyes wandering to the ground like she'd lost that spark she had just moments ago. 

"Um, I—" 

He cut her off, remembering the question. "S-sorry, I forgot. You wanted to ask me something, right?" 

"Yeah." 

He had been wearing a smile, but it was beginning to fade. "But… Isn't it kind of early for that sort of thing, though?" 

"I couldn't sleep, I guess," she said, frowning slightly. She certainly didn't sleep as well as she should've, but that was partly because she'd woken up a little earlier than usual just to catch him before the rest of the class could. 

"Uraraka, we have the training exercise today." 

"I know, I know. I just… had a bad dream, is all." 

"O-oh. I—sorry, I never would've known. You're okay though, right?" 

He sounded concerned, and she couldn't help but look away. "Yeah, I'm fine." 

She was really frowning now, more so than she was before, and now her bangs were the only thing she had left to hide behind. She was lying through the skin of her teeth, and she knew it. She hated that she knew it, especially when she was lying to Izuku, of all people. 

But not for the life of her would she admit she was jealous. And if that meant she'd have to lie, than so be it, because jealousy was her downfall and she wasn't going to let it get the best of her. 

Besides, she had nothing to be jealous of in the first place, anyway. Nothing justifiable, at least. Not even Mina and her stupid friendship with Izuku, which was something she shouldn't have even cared about since Mina had said it herself: Izuku wasn't her type. 

But still, sometimes she got nervous, jealous, because maybe Mina didn't know what she was talking about, and maybe Izuku actually _was_ her type. 

But Uraraka had brought him here for a reason, hoping that maybe she'd feel a little better if he did what she asked. "I-I know we agreed to keep quiet about this until the dance, Deku, b-but, uh, I was wondering if maybe we could maybe act a little more like a couple?" 

His cheeks were beginning to flush as he asked, "W-what do you mean?" 

Slowly, she held up her pinky finger as if it was an offer, eyes darting sideways and then to the ground. She'd thought about doing this for a while now, but she didn't think she'd be this nervous. "I-it doesn't have to be much. It doesn't have to be anything at all, really. But today, on the way to school, I was wondering if you'd… hold pinkies with me." 

There was a silence, so she decided to clarify. "That sounded stupid. W-we don't have to hold hands or anything! I know holding pinkies is weird, childish, b-but that way no one will notice. So, um, what do you say?" 

"Oh, sure, I guess," he replied, his lips pressing together in a straight line. He'd become a bundle of nerves, especially since he'd never really held hands with a girl before, whether it be a friend of his or not. And it wasn't like he was even holding hands with her, either, but this was Uraraka he was talking about. Not only was she a friend of his, but somehow she'd become his kind-of-somewhat-unofficial girlfriend. That title alone made him nervous. It all seemed a little over-complicated. 

**\- o - o - o -**

The school was only a short walk away, and that might've played a bigger part in Izuku's accordance than he liked to think. But neither of them would've ended up in such a position if it weren't for Uraraka's tenacity, pinky fingers interlocked and shoulders colliding with one another every time their steps fell into line. They used their bags as a shield against unwanted eyes, but people had already started to take notice, namely Class 1-A. 

"Who do they think they're fooling?" Kaminari asked, he and his friends walking a good distance behind the rest of the class. The three of them, Kirishima and Sero included, were already huddled up and exchanging whispers. 

"Hey, man, at least they're trying," Kirishima added, throwing out an idea they could entertain. He was only being half-serious, though. 

Sero looked between his friends and then back at the unsuspecting couple. "Dude, look at Iida. He has no idea. He's totally third wheeling them right now." He laughed, and then there was a pause of hesitation. "You seeing this, Bakugo?" 

Bakugo had his eyes elsewhere, though, believing he'd seen enough bullshit for one day. "You think I give a flying fuck what that nerd does? He could marry her for all I care." 

Mina heard that, and she tried to pretend she hadn't. 

Kirishima ignored him, who, from what he could tell, was very clearly not in the mood. He started whispering again. "Just look at 'em. They're oblivious. Are they even trying to hide it?" 

This was one of those times when Mina really hated her friends, because she'd been listening in for a while now. Of course she was looking at them. How could she not be? 

She really wanted to snap Kirishima in half because if he didn't shut his annoyingly loud mouth, it would end up being all _his_ fault that she was feeling this way. God, where was Bakugo's bad attitude at a time like this? Because for once in her life she actually needed it. 

She had been the first to notice their not-so-subtle hand holding, obviously, long before Kaminari even brought it up. She just didn't say anything because she was too busy feeling frustrated. She wasn't mad at Uraraka, nor was she mad at Izuku. But the whole scene they were making was stressing her out. 

She didn't like it. Not at all. 

But it really didn't make any sense for her not to like it because Izuku was her friend. Shouldn't she have been happy for him? That's how friendship was supposed to work, wasn't it? Friends were supposed to be happy for each other. 

But for some odd reason, she couldn't bring herself to be happy. 

She couldn't stop staring at them—their hands were where she focused her attention, where (from what she could tell) they were the closest. She kind of hated how close they were. 

What was she, jealous? Over a friend? 

He'd been hanging around her for a few weeks now, and outside of their respective friend groups, they were becoming what she would consider close. And she loved spending time with him more than she ever thought she would back when she first got into U.A. 

She liked it especially because he made her feel warm sometimes. And her heart would hammer against her rib cage whenever he said something particularly nice. 

Or, in this case, he would make it hurt. Badly. 

But she didn't get jealous over her friends. That was a fact. For as long as she could remember, she had so many that she never really worried about losing them. There was no point—she could just make more the next day anyway. 

But then… Why did she hate this so much? 

There was an aching inside her chest, and it didn't take a scientist to know it was her heart. It was a strange feeling, something she wasn't used to. It almost made her feel sick to her stomach. 

But then again, if it was really him who was making her feel this way, what did that mean for her? 

"Ashido?" 

_Thank God for Kiri_ , she told herself, sighing a little on the inside. His voice had caused her to jump a little, but he'd kicked her out of her wandering thoughts. "Oh, hey, Kirishima. What's up?" 

He raised an eyebrow, and she partially braced herself. "I was going to ask you if you knew anything about Midoriya and Uraraka since you're friends with them and all." 

She felt a little relieved knowing Kirishima couldn't read her mind. "They're a thing, if that's what you're asking. But I bet you already knew that. Nothing interesting to tell you, though." She probably wasn't supposed to disclose any information at all, but the fact that they were… _something_ , at least, was pretty much on public display by now. 

"Okay. You're okay though, right? You looked a little flustered." 

She put on a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm all good. Nothing to worry about." 

She decided to heed her own advice because there was really no point in entertaining useless ideas. She really should've let her mouth do the talking instead of her mind, because her mind clearly didn't know what they were talking about. 

**\- o - o - o -**

Mr. Aizawa made a face of disgust, lazily turning his pockets inside out and upside down as the class watched him aimlessly, wondering what it was he was looking for and waiting for word that they could begin. They'd waited all day for this—the match that would determine not only their strength, but also their preparedness for the final exams. It was so close they could taste it on the backs of their tongues. 

Mina could taste something similar to metal, like when she would run for too long in the cold and would start to taste blood in the back of her throat. She was biting her tongue, if that anything to do with it. But she was excited, so what else was she supposed to do? Maybe a little too excited, actually, because her body was moving faster than her brain and decided that ruining everyone's hero costumes with her Quirk was a good idea. She leaned forward a little until she was probably in her friends' personal space, but what did she care? The words were just rolling off of her tongue. "Ah, I've been waiting all weekend for this! Are you guys as excited as I am?" Like a reflex, one hand made its way up into the sky, and along with it came an accidental wave of acid that would undoubtedly cause some controversy. Her friends barely managed to escape, clothes unscathed. 

She was about to apologize, but Mr. Aizawa _had_ to come in and cut her off. "Ashido, you and I both know you know the rules. Do _not_ use your Quirk like that again without a teacher's permission, unless you want to spend the afternoon in the principal's office." 

Not wanting her record to dive even further into the deep end, she nodded. "Sorry, Mr. Aizawa. It was an accident," she said, turning toward Kirishima and Kaminari and flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry, guys." 

"And since you can't behave like everyone else, I guess you'll do fine running back into the classroom and grabbing my stopwatch. It's in the closet." 

Mina sighed unknowingly, her shoulders rolling over in defeat. Just when she thought he was done, Mr. Aizawa turned around and looked square at the group of the students behind him. "And, Midoriya, why don't you join her since you can't seem to stop talking?" 

Bashfully, he flinched, meeting eyes with his teacher. He looked like a deer in headlights. "Y-yes! Sorry, sir, I'll go right now." He was only trying to get Iida to notice the bug on his back, but there was no point in explaining himself now. He bowed apologetically and hurried to catch up with Mina, who surprisingly, had waited for him to catch up. 

**\- o - o - o -**

The closet was dark and a little bit cramped. Mina really should have expected as much, though, even though she'd never actually been inside the closet before, because she'd seen her teachers go in and could tell it was dark, even from the outside. She used an old broom laying beside her to hold the door, and then, now that there was enough light for her to do so, she glanced over her shoulder at the boy behind her. He was short—shorter than he usually was when compared to the shelves above him—blindly searching for a box he couldn't seem to get a hold of. Not even on his tippy-toes. She wanted to go over there and help, but she wasn't any taller than he was. She was probably a lot shorter, actually. 

She looked back at the broom and the light pouring out of the doorway, and then her eyes wandered back to Izuku, who had found what he was looking for. 

_If that broom falls… Izuku and I, we—_

She cut herself short. That was a horrible thing to dwell on. Especially right now, when that could've very possibly ended up being the case. She was about to give herself a lecture on what not to think in this kind of situation, but she heard him say her name first. "Hey, Ashido?" 

"What's up?" she asked. 

"Can you search through that box? I think Mr. Aizawa said it was in one of these." 

She walked over to where he was standing, kneeling down and going through heaps of useless supplies. "Seriously, why couldn't they just get it themselves? And, like, a _stopwatch_? Don't they have phones?" 

"I don't think they carry them around at school." 

She stopped digging for a second, looking up at him sarcastically. "Midori, _I_ carry my phone around at school. I'm sure they left it in the classroom or something for the hell of it. Actually, y'know what? I bet they did this on purpose!" 

"I-I don't think so, Ashido. But it would be pretty funny if they did." 

She was almost at the bottom of the box when she noticed something. A timer, small and round and pocket-sized. "Found it!" she said, her smile lopsided. "We can finally get out of here!" 

But she froze just moments after she stood up, because, ironically, that was the moment she realized the room had gone dark. 

And she meant it when she said dark, because she could barely make out the broom that had already fallen to the floor, and she could barely see where the doorframe was. 

She smiled, nervous, eyes scanning the room. Where was Izuku? She couldn't exactly tell without the light, and her brain was coming up with all these situations and scenarios when it really shouldn't have been. "W-whatever. I'll fix it," she offered. She stepped around the stacks of boxes littering the floor and made her way to the door, and then she turned the handle. 

Except it wouldn't budge. Not when she pushed, not when she pulled, not even when she tried for a second or third or fourth time. 

It was stuck. No, _they_ were stuck. 

She was trapped in here with Izuku in this tiny little closet, no way to escape or call for help. 

She shook her head. Why was that her first thought? 

Focusing on something more important, she was frantic. "Why won't the door open, Midoriya? Is this a prank? This—this isn't happening, is it?" 

"A-are you sure? D-did you pull hard enough?" 

"Yes! And"-she paused, groaning as she tried the doorknob one more time-"we literally _just_ found the thing we were looking for! Can you try using your Quirk, maybe?" 

"I-I don't know. I guess," he said, his voice coming closer to her. She let go of the handle and let him have a try without using his Quirk, but he wasn't any luckier than she was. He was more worried about what the teachers would say since he'd already gotten himself here by means of causing trouble. They couldn't pull him from the match, could they? 

He powered up One For All to eight percent, which should've been more than enough to break down a door. He twisted the knob as hard as he could, and he thought maybe he'd done a good job when he heard something pop. 

But apparently not, because it was just the doorknob, which he was now holding in his hand. 

There was a moment of silence to really appreciate the moment, and then Mina started to laugh. She was laughing hard, clutching her stomach. "I can't believe you just did that," she said, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes. "Kaminari I could see, but _you_?" 

He laughed a little awkwardly, still in disbelief, his eyes still fixated on the handle. "Wow. I'm probably gonna have to pay for this, aren't I?" She nodded, and he continued. "So that means we're actually stuck here, then." 

"Wait a second, what about my Quirk?" 

He thought for a moment. "I don't know, Ashido. I mean, wouldn't we be destroying school property? And I think Mr. Aizawa would be less upset it we just waited it out instead of destroying his door." 

"Yeah, I guess so. And my Quirk _did_ kind of get us into this mess anyway," she agreed. Besides, the broken doorknob he was holding was already a sign of bad luck, and she thought back to all those times her Quirk had been a cause for concern. Sometimes it destroyed more things than it needed to, and she could burn a hole through the floor or the wall if her acid got too watery. That was an act that would send her straight to detention by Mr. Aizawa's standards. 

"So I guess that means we're waiting it out then, right?" he asked. 

"They're gonna have to find us eventually. What else are we supposed to do?" 

There was a quietness that instilled after that, and Mina really wished he would say something because her heart was pounding against her rib cage, and she didn't know how to make it stop. What was she supposed to do in a situation like this—locked in a closet with Izuku Midoriya? She couldn't chalk these feelings up to nothing, could she? 

But she wanted to. She wanted to pretend they didn't exist, that they weren't acting up and eating her alive right now. 

She took in a deep breath and looked around the room. It was too dark to see. "I'll look for a flashlight," she said, hands out in front of her as she fished for a nearby shelf. She eventually found one, pulling out a box and searching for something that felt like a cylinder. 

"Just be careful," Izuku warned, sitting in a cleared out corner. He was hugging his knees to his chest, and he would admit he was trying to stay calm. 

"I might have found one." She pulled something out of the box and felt around it for a switch, and when she flicked it on, there was finally enough light for them to see. Albeit it wasn't a lot, but it was enough for them to get by with. 

Izuku watched her set the box back up on the shelf, and suddenly he was nervous. Her hero suit didn't leave much to the imagination, and the closet seemed even smaller with the light on than it did with it off. But he told himself to worry about something else, that there were plenty of other things to think about, because he'd worked so hard _not_ to be nervous around Mina that it almost felt like he was regressing. He'd kind of gotten so used to hanging out with her that the fact that she was a girl never really crossed his mind. Until now, that is, when that was all he could brood over. 

He looked up and noticed something that bothered him—a box, sitting on the edge of the shelf that looked ready to fall on Mina's head. Quickly, he shot up and reached over her shoulder, grabbing the box just before catastrophe. 

She was surprised, startled, even. Her eyes wandered upward and latched onto the box above her, and then she looked to the side and met eyes with Izuku, whose face was far too close to hers. She stared for a moment and tried to form words, but nothing would come out. Her heart must've had something against her. 

He was the first to step back. "S-sorry! I didn't want it to fall on your head…" 

"I know, Midori, don't worry about it. Thanks, actually. I'd really rather _not_ get a concussion right before our match." 

He smiled, and then he set the box down by his feet. "N-no problem then, I guess? That would be bad." 

"Yeah," she said, backing up toward the wall. She began to slide to the floor, sitting with her legs crossed. "I'm gonna sit if you want to join me." 

"Okay," he said, sitting down beside her. He put the flashlight between them so that its brightness spanned the entire room, and that's where she placed the stopwatch, preparing for the faithful moment they'd be found. 

He really took a look around the closet now, something eye catching on the wall opposite of him. "Holy—woah! Is that a limited edition All Might poster?" 

Confused, she smiled half-heartedly. She knew the question wasn't for her, but she decided to be funny and answer it anyway. "Um, yes?" 

"I don't even think you can buy this one anymore." 

She watched him go starry-eyed, and for whatever reason, she started to laugh. "I don't know what it is you like about All Might so much, but really, you're like in love or something." 

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked. His cheeks were red; he'd taken her assumption seriously. 

She laughed even more. "Relax a little, will you? It was a joke." 

All of a sudden his eyes traveled down to his lap, fiddling his fingers and sighing a little in a way that let her know he was serious. "All Might is kind of an inspiration to me, Ashido." It was weird for him to talk about his mentor like this, especially since he now knew him personally. "My Quirk… hasn't always been the strongest. It, um, took awhile for me to really get a good handle on how it works, and I always looked at All Might and thought, _how can I be like him? How can I be that strong?_ I watched him all the time, Ashido. He was my reason for becoming a hero. I thought I could never be like him, that I was living a pipe dream. But I trained, and I got better, and I guess… without him as an inspiration, I wouldn't really be where I am now." 

He realized what he'd said after the fact, that he had pretty much told her his entire life story, but he actually wasn't all that bothered by it. Maybe it was because she was the only one here to listen, just the two of them in this one little room with nothing to do but talk. It felt oddly personal, but he was okay with it. 

"That's… holy crap, Midoriya. That's really cheesy, but I like it! I wish I had something cool to tell you like that, but my life's as bland as anything." 

He looked up at her. "Well then what inspired you to become a hero, Ashido?" 

"Do you really want to know?" 

"Yeah. I-I do, don't I? It's not anything weird, right?" 

"No, no. Of course not. I was actually just wondering whether or not I should tell you because, well… It's nothing. I don't really know why I wanted to become a hero. Surprising, I know. I mean, as a kid I had a strong Quirk, and everyone told me I would make a great hero, so I thought it would be fun, y'know? And when I saw that U.A. was having an entrance exam, I decided I'd go out on a limb and try to get in, just like everyone else I knew. It was a last minute decision, honestly, and I didn't have a lot of time to train. I don't regret it at all, though." She paused and smiled in his direction, and she thought maybe she'd said something wrong when he didn't say anything in return. "It's not, um, weird for me to have no inspiration, is it?" 

"I don't think it is. The important thing is that you want to be a hero, right?" 

"Yeah." 

"Then it doesn't really matter." 

Sometimes she wished there were more people in the world like Izuku—people who were strong-willed and kind-hearted, people who knew all the right things to say. Because, at least from what she could tell, he seemed to do all of that to perfection. 

She snapped herself back into reality by taking a deep breath. "Thanks, Midori. That makes me feel a little better. Sometimes I wonder if people judge me for that, and there's my skin, too—" 

"What's wrong with your skin?" 

It took her a moment for her to realize she'd let that slip. All of a sudden she wanted to crawl into a hole like one of those groundhogs on Groundhog Day, the ones who never saw their shadow and would just go back to hiding until spring actually came around. She wouldn't deny it: she _did_ wonder if people judged her based on her skin. It wasn't something that made her self-conscious, but it was something that crossed her mind from time to time. And now she'd have to explain that to Izuku, who wouldn't have even known if she'd just kept her mouth shut. 

She breathed in a little. "Well, I mean, it's not exactly normal. Wouldn't you wonder what people thought if _you_ had pink skin?" 

He looked her dead in the eye. "Sure I would. But only a select few of us are Quirkless nowadays, so it's not like abnormalities aren't common. B-besides, I think it's really cool. It makes you stand out from everyone else." 

She wondered if he'd like her skin if it was purple, because she was pretty sure her face had just set fire. Nobody had ever told her that before, certainly not a boy like Izuku. "Y-you really think so?" 

She felt like a fool for stuttering. What was she, hungover? 

Was she even alright right now? Because her heart was saying otherwise. 

"Of course I do. Anyone who judges you over that isn't worth your time." 

He smiled wholeheartedly—a simple gesture, but it was the icing on top of the cake. And he had added way too much sugar. 

"Thanks, Midoriya. You're a good friend, you know that?" 

He looked at her wide-eyed, surprised. "Really?" 

Laughter was bubbling up in the back of her throat, but she swallowed it down. "What, did you think I was kidding?" 

"No, not at all! I-I just wasn't expecting that." He was glad she thought of him as a good friend, because he'd never really been told that by anyone before. Not even Iida, who he'd been friends with since the beginning of the school year, but that was because the topic never came up. "Thanks. I think you're a good friend too," he said, returning the favor. 

She smiled, and instead of actually saying anything, she let out a hefty breath to let him know she'd acknowledged him, one that was trying hard not to become a giggle. "But seriously, if there's anything awesome in here, it's definitely the fact that you were inspired by someone, Midoriya. I wish I was that way. I could kind of tell it was All Might just from reading your notebook, though." 

Even without a good source of light, she could tell he was blushing. "O-oh, I didn't know y-you could tell that easily…" 

"Yeah, you make it kinda obvious. Speaking of your notebook, I read the page you wrote about me." 

He was really turning red now. "Y-you found that? I was—I-I wrote that on a whim, actually." 

He started falling into a downward spiral of um's and ah's, and she wanted to snap him out of it. "Don't worry. You didn't write anything to offend me." 

_Quite the opposite, actually_ , she thought, her subconscious wandering into uncharted territory. 

"Actually, I was wondering about that." She paused, the words hitching in her throat. "About the I'm-an-incredible-dancer thing… do you really think that?" 

He smiled again, and now he was adding the whipped cream onto a dessert so sweet it could've given her cavities. What was she supposed to say at a time like this, especially when he was wearing a smile like that? 

"Well I wouldn't really be able to dance if it weren't for you, so yeah," he admitted. 

"Like, you _think_ think that?" 

He tilted his head in confusion. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?" 

"I don't know. You haven't even really seen me breakdance yet, and that's when I really bust out the moves." She started moving her body in a way that really didn't scream breakdancing, but it was okay because now, finally, she was starting to get somewhat used to talking to Izuku in this tiny little closet. 

"You'll have to show me sometime," he said. 

"Oh, no. You are _not_ learning how to breakdance." He didn't need to break any more bones than he already had. 

"I-I never said I wanted to! But that _would_ be pretty cool, though." 

She sighed and decided to change the subject. "I seriously wonder when they're gonna come find us. Like, imagine if they just left us to rot, and then they all forgot we existed. 

He shuddered. "I don't think we've been in here long enough to worry about that, Ashido." 

"Hey, guess what? I just came up with a good way to pass the time!" she said, her voice standing out against the silence. She had quickly become dead set on her idea. 

"What is it?" he asked hesitantly. Sometimes Mina's ideas were a recipe for disaster, and he usually liked to avoid them. He would never actually tell her that, though. 

"On the subject of dancing, I was thinking maybe we could… try it for a little while, y'know?" Suddenly she wasn't so dead set on her idea anymore. She really should've done a double-take before blurting it out, because the cons heavily outweighed the pros and now it was too late to take it back. "You've been getting kind of good at it lately, and I just thought it would be fun. Besides, we're stuck in here, so why not?" 

"A-Ashido, are you sure? We don't have any music, a-and it's kind of dark!" 

She definitely wasn't sure, but she would pretend like she was. "Then we can just imagine the music, Midoriya. Whatever kind of music you want. Really, let's just have fun with it," she replied, smiling a little. She stood up and offered her hand, and he took it, his reluctance radiating off of him like an aura. But she spun him around anyway, and suddenly they were facing each other and she really regretted this decision. Really, really regretted it, way more than she should've. 

Slowly, reluctantly—almost as if she had somehow become the reluctant one—she let one hand drape over his shoulder and brought the other to his free hand, cautiously wrapping his fingers around hers. She was probably going a little overboard with this, especially for a practice run, but his hand was warm and nearly big enough to engulf her own, and she really thought that when the time came where he actually _did_ slow dance with Uraraka, this was what they'd do. 

Speaking of Uraraka, Izuku was almost afraid she'd find out about this and get jealous, and then things would get ugly. She was the kind of person who would consider this cheating, even though he really didn't have such intentions. He was only doing this for her sake, so he'd be able to dance with her in front of a crowd without messing it all up. His thoughts were running loose, but in all honesty, he didn't really want to think about Uraraka right now. 

If he was going to be honest, he would say he wasn't nervous. Not as nervous as he would've been a few weeks ago, at least. He was actually kind of comfortable dancing with her in the dark in this tiny little space, and the silence settled around them like a weightless cloud on a hot summer day. Maybe it was because she was his friend—maybe that was why he wasn't taking this too seriously, just trying to enjoy the moment. 

The space between their palms and their fingers was starting to get sweaty, and he wondered if that was his fault. But he realized it could've been her, too, when she met his eyes for a split second and pulled them away, golden irises darting to the other corner of the room. 

Mina wasn't skittish, at least not from what Izuku could remember. But right now she was. In fact, ever since they'd gotten locked in here and started talking a few minutes ago, she had been acting different—funny, in a way. She was almost a stranger to him now, someone he'd never met before. Apparently she got nervous sometimes, and she had insecurities about her skin. Apparently she wasn't always as extroverted as she made herself out to be. 

But it wasn't like he minded seeing this side of Mina. It was a nice change of scenery. 

"You're starting to get the hang of this, Midori," she said, bringing him back down to Earth. She was trying not to stutter. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. I… don't even think you need me to practice anymore. I-I think you've got it down." 

"That's good!" 

"Yeah." She paused, sighing. "Can we at least dance for a little longer, though?" 

He smiled. "Sure." 

She watched him glow and realized he really was too pure for her—for both her and her heart. Her heart had never felt like this before, and she didn't know how to explain it. But what she did know was that it was thrashing, hammering against her chest, throwing itself up into her throat and back down into her stomach with every passing beat, magnetized by a thousand every time their eyes met even if only for a single moment. He had the greenest eyes she'd ever seen, greener than anything and everything even nature could conjure up. 

Her palms were sweaty and she had to swallow down her smile, and she couldn't stop thinking about Uraraka and wondering, _how'd she get so lucky? How'd she win over Midoriya so easily?_

She was seriously scared her face was going to burn off. A part of her was slipping away—a little corner of her mind couldn't stop thinking about how close they were, even if they're really weren't as close as she liked to imagine. But she really couldn't stop herself from thinking that way. 

Mina wasn't the kind of person who got confused by her feelings. Very rarely did she think: _W_ _hy's he making me feel this way?_ or _How come this is making me so angry? So happy? So sad?_ So maybe that was why she was confused right now. Maybe she was confused by her confusion. 

Or maybe there wasn't as much confusion as she liked to believe, and maybe she just didn't want to accept the truth. But she thought about it as he let go of her hand, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he backed away. She thought about the last few weeks and all those little signs she'd been ignoring, and she almost couldn't listen as he said, "Thanks, Ashido. I-I think I've figured everything out now." 

She knew there was no point in denying it when she got inexplicably sad over him letting go of her hand. There was no logical explanation for why it would bother her. Except for one, and it was time for her to stop the excuses and the denial because she knew. God, she _knew_. 

She was falling in love with Izuku Midoriya, and she was so unbelievably and inescapably doomed that there wasn't even good a word to describe it.


	7. Ch 7 - In the Midst of These Feelings

**A/N:** _Hey everyone, I know it's been a while since I posted, but I finally got around to finishing this chapter. I was loaded with projects and tests before February break in school, not to mention sports, so I didn't have a lot of time to write. I wrote most of this_ _chapter in the last three days, which is pretty crazy to think about. I also didn't know what to title this again._

 _I messed up Mr. Aizawa's Quirk last chapter, and after multiple reviews pointed it out, I went back and fixed it. I hope that doesn't bug anyone anymore._

 _I don't know how I feel about the final outcome of this chapter, but I hope everyone enjoys. It's hard to write about love when you don't have any experience with it yourself, so I'm hoping I_ _portrayed Mina's feelings nicely. And just to let you know, it's a direct continuation of the last one. Let me know if you have any feedback since I also might have messed up some of their Quirks too. I did a lot of research, but action has never been my strong suit_.

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Mina Ashido was a lot of things: outgoing and extroverted, the kind of person with a bright future ahead of her and absolutely nothing to worry about except making a name for herself and impressing the world with her Quirk. She was as vibrant as a shooting star yet still a mess of a human being, made with all the right ingredients that had been mixed the wrong way. And apparently she was vulnerable and bad with feelings too, something even she was unaware of, because she couldn't handle a few fleeting butterflies or a little heartache over some boy.

But she was really dumbing it down to something it wasn't, because even she knew the feelings she had for Izuku had escalated into so much more than that. They were real and they were there, and they were more than just a simple tug on the heart strings. They never went away, not even when he wasn't around. And he wasn't just "some boy", either.

He was so relaxed right now, so completely unaware of her uneasiness, and a part of her was angry at him because how come he got to feel fine when she was over here freaking out? It was totally unfair, and she wanted to wipe that stupid smile off of his face. Don't get her wrong—it was cute, but it was also the reason she didn't know how to speak anymore, and it was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

She was frozen solid, the hand that had held his still right where it was before and the expression on her face when the realization first hit her still set and stone. She really didn't know what to do right now besides lose her cool and turn the brightest shade of purple imaginable.

After all, she _liked_ him. She liked Izuku Midoriya, and the truth has been staring her in the face since a long time ago.

Izuku looked a little bewildered and was ready to say something about Mina's spacing out, but the clicking of the door startled both of them. They snapped their heads in that direction.

Kirishima was poking his head in from the other side. Mr. Aizawa and Iida were there too, apparently, but Mina didn't notice them until she took a second glance. Mr. Aizawa was the first to say something. "I asked you two to get in and get out, not to hang out in here."

"M-Mr. Aizawa, the lock got stuck, and the door was jammed! Honest! W-we have the stopwatch, if that's what you're asking," Izuku stuttered, grabbing both the stopwatch and the broken doorknob and showing them to his teacher.

Mr. Aizawa cleared his throat. "This isn't the first time this has happened, Midoriya. I believe you two, and I'm going to have to replace the lock before it happens again. But if you want to get any preparation time before the match, you'd better hurry up."

"Y-yes, sir!"

Mina was well aware that her silence had sparked Kirishima's curiosity, and now she was too scared to move. He was going to ask questions. That was obvious by the way he was looking at her, one eyebrow piqued upward in interest and the other downturned in suspicion. "Dude, what were you two doing that whole time?" he asked, moments after she stepped out into the classroom.

"W-we talked. And, um, that's it! Why does it matter?"

"I just wanted to know because you're really purple. Seriously, I mean _bright_ purple."

She knew that already. Didn't he know she knew that? She would've done something about it if she could've, but it really wasn't that easy. "It was just a little hot in there, that's all," she lied, and she picked up her pace and blocked out any and all noise so that she didn't have to look him in the eye.

 **\- o - o - o -**

"Make your final preparations, everyone, because we've got _thirty_ seconds until we begin!"

Present Mic's voice was on full volume, and it must've been loud enough for not only all of Ground Beta to hear, but the whole city of Musutafu as well. Kirishima told Mina that now was a good time to set up her barrier, and she used Acid Veil to maximize her acid's solubility and viscosity. Her barricade would probably be destroyed within the first few minutes of the match, but she could always return to make another one and help Kirishima on defense in the process.

There wasn't anything problematic on her mind, so that was a plus. Not even Izuku and that stupid closet, nor her less-than-desirable feelings. She was feeling good, excited, as was Kirishima by the way he was smiling.

Somewhere on the other side of the battle field, Izuku was down in a sprinters start, One For All surging through his body like a wildfire.

The siren sounded, and he was off.

He knew there was no turning back. He wouldn't do so much as to even look behind him, and waving to Uraraka would be a bust anyway since she was too busy levitating a good ton and a half of rocks to notice.

There was something about the luck of the draw that had given Izuku the benefit of the doubt, because he and Uraraka had arguably gotten one of the best spots in the arena. Their flag was perfectly obscured by nearby buildings, and he didn't have to worry about straying away or leaving it alone because Uraraka could handle things on her own. Besides, she'd let him know if she needed help via walkie-talkie, a little piece of assistance given to every team by All Might.

He could've been running faster than Iida if it came down to it, maneuvering through the streets at record speed in the hopes of stealing at least a flag or two. But unfortunately, he wasn't having any luck, and it seemed he hadn't found the heart of the action because explosions were firing off from the opposite end of Ground Beta. So, briskly, he turned around and headed in that direction. The first corner he turned lead him straight to two of his opponents—Jirou and Kaminari.

They were on edge, but it was the good kind of edge, the ready-to-take-him-on kind of edge. And even though it was two versus one, Izuku was ready, too. It might've been a bad idea to take them both on at once, but there wasn't an easy way to get around them without wasting more time. So he cut his losses and ignited One For All yet again, powering up the energy in his legs and running full speed ahead.

He didn't really have a plan just yet and Jirou caught onto that quickly, a powerful shockwave heading for the ground and then straight for him. He had been expecting that though, so in no time at all he jumped before the rubble could reach his feet and landed on the balcony of a nearby building. He decided to take a second and collect himself before attacking again, and maybe he'd analyze his surroundings a little more clearly before recklessly jumping into action.

Jirou, who was sick of sitting around, looked up at him with jarring eyes. "Any day now, Midoriya! We're waiting!"

What she didn't know was that underneath that messy hair of his he was wearing a smirk, one that would ultimately give him the confidence he needed. Under his breath, almost as if she could hear him, he whispered, "I've got this in the bag, Jirou." And then, hoping she was actually listening this time, he raised his voice a little, and as he sprung down from the sky he tried to pull off a Manchester Smash by flipping forward, an axe kick heading straight for Jirou. "Don't count me out just yet!"

But what he had forgotten about was that Kaminari was here too, and with a flick of a finger, his sharpshooting gear allowed him to stun Izuku mid-air, giving Jirou time to move out of the way. Paralyzed, he was just barely able to avoid Jirou's amplifiers, which would have shattered his eardrums if they'd gotten too close.

He decided that his best course of action was to simply get away, and once he reached a point where he could slow down, he looked back and noticed Kaminari still had his eyes on him. He narrowed his gaze in return, this I'll-be-back-soon kind of look, and then he turned and headed toward the heat of the battle. He wasn't one to run from a fight, but he had an idea. He'd just have to run it by Uraraka first.

He turned to his left in a heat of the moment decision, and before he could even think about hitting call on his walkie-talkie he ran into another flag. It looked like it was Sero's, barricaded by a thick layer of tape. He was probably somewhere in the vicinity since he wasn't dumb enough to leave his flag unguarded.

Izuku's walkie-talkie pinged in, reminding him of its existence. "Deku!"

"Uraraka? Is something wrong?"

"Um, I-I'm not sure, but we might be getting double-teamed."

Izuku's reply came in faster this time. "By who?"

"I think Iida and Ojiro are both really close, but they're not on the same team. I'm hoping they'll fight each other, but I don't know right now because they're coming in from opposite sides. Ojiro's tail could do a lot of damage to our defense."

He looked back at the scene before him, Sero's flag looking promisingly vulnerable, but he'd already made a decision. "I'll be there soon, Uraraka." He used the balconies as a good source of transportation, taking as many shortcuts as possible to get back to his base.

He stopped once he was hidden behind a brick building, perched up on one of its worn-down decks. Sure enough, from his vantage point he could see Ojiro, who was already making a beeline for Uraraka. She looked like she was about to release, and knowing she could only do that once with the little debris they had, his instincts took over. If he wanted to protect that flag he'd have to hurry up and get down there.

So, almost without thinking (but of course, he was Izuku, so threw was a little bit of a complex thought process), he swooped in and used his index finger as an outlet for a Delaware Smash, creating a wind blast strong enough to send Ojiro flying into the back of a building.

Izuku realized the precarious position he'd gotten himself into now that the dust had cleared; he was stuck right in the middle of two driving forces—Uraraka and Ojiro—and Iida could be God knows where, watching from above or lurking down below or maybe even only a few feet away, hiding in the shadows like some kind of ninja. How was he supposed to know?

Ojiro hobbled onto his feet, giving Izuku the stink eye. "Midoriya… your timing is way too inconvenient."

Izuku looked at him with a face full of spite, a similar look to the one he'd given Kaminari, and then he turned toward Uraraka. "Save the release for later, we might need it."

She nodded. "I was hoping to use it against Iida anyway."

Their moments of solace would soon be interrupted by none other than Iida himself, who did, in fact, come out of nowhere. He already had his Quirk activated the moment he came barreling around the corner, and Izuku knew he had a tough battle ahead of him when he saw a determined Ojiro regaining his balance in the background.

Needless to say, the two of them together made for a strong match up. Izuku really wished they'd just go ahead and fight each other, but it seemed the two of them were more focused on who could get to the flag first. That would be the determining factor in who was stronger.

Still, that meant it was two versus two instead of two versus one versus one, and even though Iida had an arguably more impressive Quirk, Ojiro's tail was more situational. Uraraka couldn't do a whole lot against him when it came to anything other than martial arts, so it was up to Izuku to stop him before he blew down their barrier with his tail.

But he did what he had to do to keep Ojiro away, and eventually, after an exchange of strikes and punches that left both sides considerably weak, Ojiro was out of the picture. Left unable to move, he was falling in and out of consciousness against the side of a skyscraper. Izuku's blow to the stomach was the last straw.

"I-I hope he's gonna be okay," Izuku said, hands trembling. He knew he was probably just as worn out as Ojiro, and if he'd gotten the chance Ojiro would have probably knocked him out as well, but he still felt guilty. Maybe he'd gone a little overboard.

Uraraka narrowed her eyes, almost as if to mock him. "Deku, it's okay. He'll be fine. There's always Recovery Girl, and it's not like we've never been there before."

"Yeah. I mean, we are supposed to be going all out, I guess."

She looked out over the battlefield until her eyes stopped on a certain familiar figure. "Besides, I think Iida is who we should really be worrying about." All of a sudden she covered her mouth with one hand, her face looking a lot greener than it did before. "A-and I don't know how much longer I can keep this stuff floating without"—from the looks of it, she almost gagged, but she held it down—"vomiting."

Izuku looked out over the other side of the road. Seeing Iida like that, battered and bruised yet still determined to win, he suddenly knew he needed a plan. After all, it was _his_ punch that'd sent him flying all the way over there in the first place. "We need to think of something."

"He'll probably use his super move next, so maybe I should release."

"If I know Iida, he probably saved his super move for a time like this, when we're both vulnerable and tired from fighting someone else. Come to think of it, that's probably why he wasn't going all out earlier. He must be expecting us to have some kind of plan up our sleeve."

"I don't think he's noticed my Meteor Shower yet, though."

"Exactly. He probably thinks we have some new move we haven't told him about or something like that. That's why…" Suddenly, he lit up like a light bulb. "I've got it! Uraraka, back up onto the sidewalk. I'll go stand on the other side, and when Iida comes your way, use your Quirk to make him float. And you can use that super move—Home Run Comet, I think it was called—to scare him off and buy us some time. And then I don't know about after that quite yet…"

"Alrighty, Deku, I think I've got the gist of it."

He realized he was about to start mumbling, and shyly, he nodded to her as the two got into position. They could feel Iida's confidence emanating even from a distance, and it was hard not to smile.

Iida fired up his engines. The way he overused them was obvious by the way they crackled, rusting. Izuku gave Uraraka a sideways glance, and quietly, she whispered, "Release."

Once Iida was ready, he took off.

Izuku's heart was hammering in his chest, and he took in multiple deep breaths in the seconds of waiting. Truth was, he hadn't looked up in a while, and he wasn't sure how far the debris had to fall. Uraraka must've not known either, judging by her resistance to breathe at all.

But in the end, the timing worked out perfectly, and Iida was completely caught off guard, too. He was barely able to keep his balance when he realized he was being attacked from above. That was when Izuku stepped in, launching off at just the right time to meet Iida halfway and deliver a One-For-All-powered punch to the stomach. He tried to fight it, of course, and he almost hit his friend with a deadly kick to the shins, but with the added stress of protecting himself from the rocks raining down from the sky, he was ultimately the one who lost.

Iida thought he still stood a chance against the two of them, but when he felt what could've only been Uraraka's padded fingertips against his back, he knew that wasn't the case. He was losing total control of his body, floating upward with no means of coming down, and what was worse was that his engines needed time to recharge. "We got you good, Iida!" Uraraka shouted, watching him drift away. She was smiling.

"I will admit, that was a well thought-out plan. I should've seen it coming, though. It was almost too simple."

Uraraka shrugged. "Reverse psychology. Works every time." She realized there wasn't much time left before she wouldn't be able to reach him, so she ran over and grabbed a broken pillar off of the side of a building. She touched it with all ten fingers and used part of their barricade as the ammo. "Just for good measure, I guess." She picked up the pillar and gave it her best baseball swing, and she must've hit a home run because Iida was gone as far as the eye could see.

"Uraraka, do you think you can handle things from here?"

She turned toward Izuku. "Yeah, I've got it covered. Especially if Ojiro wakes up."

"Okay. There's just one more thing, though. Can you make me float?"

 **\- o - o - o -**

Maybe being emotionally unstable all the time wasn't such a bad idea after all, because somehow Mina had managed to steal two out of the ten flags in play and was well on her way to stealing a third. Maybe this had something to do with the fact that she was done with feelings in general, and running around stealing flags from people was her outlet. Not that she minded.

She realized the flag in front of her now was Sero and Bakugo's, if the tape gave anything away. She decided to tell Kirishima the good news. "Kiri, I've already got two flags, and I'm about to get a third!"

Kirishima's voice came in on the other end. "That's good! Defense is going well so far."

"Okay. I think I can see you!" She stood on her tippy-toes and waved across the street, and Kirishima waved back. Their flag was just beyond the one she was standing in front of right now.

Their conversation cut off shortly after that, and that was when Mina realized she wasn't alone. She had company, and for whatever ludicrous reason God could come up with, Izuku Midoriya was the one providing it. Oh, the irony. She wished she could've just screamed at the top of her lungs asking why the hell he had to be here of all places, but she knew that wouldn't be helping anybody, nor would it be helping herself. She'd just have to suck it up and deal with it. Somehow. Besides, she wanted that flag, and if that meant fighting him for it, than so be it.

Unbeknownst to her, Izuku was on just as much of a high note as she was. Successfully stealing Kaminari and Jirou's flag wasn't as easy as it sounded, but with the art of surprise, he was able to pull it off. With the help of Uraraka's Quirk, he floated his way to their base and pinpointed exactly where he needed to land in order to avoid confrontation, remaining relatively unseen up until the moment he dug up their flag from ground. Then, without a word, he left them dumbstruck and finally went after Sero's flag, the one he'd been wanting to steal for a while now. But it seemed it wouldn't be as easy as he'd hoped, because Mina was there too, her intentions undeniably similar to his.

"I guess it's a race to see who can get there first, Midori."

He looked to his left and made eye contact with her, corrosive acid puddling beneath the soles of her feet. She was trying to get a head start.

He nodded, powering up One For All. "Guess so."

The two of them were evenly matched from the moment they took off, much to Izuku's surprise—he didn't know she was that fast. One would pull ahead of the other for just a second, but the runner up would quickly take the lead again. They switched roles like that, off and on, for what could've been forever.

They should've expected there to be something more to this than just a simple race of speed and agility. They should've expected Sero, and they shouldn't have been so surprised when he came. After all, who would leave their only means of winning the game out in the open like that?

There wasn't much Mina could do once Sero's tape stopped her in her tracks because if she tried to take a step forward, she would've tripped. She was surprised when he started circling not only her, but Izuku as well, and the seriousness of the situation didn't hit her until he reached their knees.

He was about to wrap them up together in tape, wasn't he. And that meant the inevitable: she would be touching Izuku from head to toe.

She went purple—bright, _bright_ purple. That was the second time today.

Was this Sero's attempt to kill two birds with one stone? Because he was about to kill Mina's heart in the process.

She really needed to compose herself. She took deep breaths, and by the time she'd done herself a favor and finished a little self-therapy, Sero's tape was already at the tops of their thighs. She glanced sideways at Izuku, who was too busy igniting One For All to notice how flustered she was. Thank God. He'd have to break free himself, because she was completely frozen.

Mina was so frustrated with herself—her stupid feelings and pretty much everything that had happened in the last hour included. Did he really affect her that much? Would she always freeze up like this whenever he was around? It wasn't very hero-like.

Maybe Sero wasn't as much of an idiot as she thought he was and maybe he knew about her not-so-subtle crush, and maybe he was trying to use it against her. Maybe that was his plan all along.

But she didn't bother to think about it too much because whether she liked it or not, the tape was getting tighter and so was its grip on the two of them.

Thankfully, Izuku was able to break through before the confinements could climb any further up their bodies. Mina knew he had an advantage over her—his heart wasn't riled up (probably), and his Quirk was already activated to top it off—so there wasn't much of a point in going after Sero's flag anymore. She decided her best option was to protect her own, so she used her acid to slide past him as he grabbed his second flag of the day and camped out by her base.

She could literally _feel_ the heat radiating off to her right, and she didn't even need to look to know that Bakugo was the one targeting them. Although, Kirishima seemed to have it under control, and she had a bigger issue to deal with anyway. Izuku was gunning straight for her.

She needed to clear her mind. Now was not the time to be thinking about him like this, especially when Kirishima couldn't back her up if he got by her. But part of her couldn't forget the feeling of being close to him.

She shook her head and let out a shaky breath, unwinding. She finally had the willpower to activate her Quirk. With acid at her fingertips, she thought about using Acid Layback, her new super move, but there wasn't any rubble to work with, so that was a no-go. Instead she just opted for a little something Izuku had helped her perfect, and as he got closer, she cupped her hands together and straightened herself out in an attempt to shoot her acid in a straight line.

But when the fact of the matter hit her that Izuku was getting closer, her mind did a total three-sixty, and she drew a blank. She couldn't think of a worthy target, and she certainly couldn't imagine him as one (there was no way he could make her angry enough for that) even though he was only a mere few feet away from her.

Needless to say, her acid didn't get very far, and Izuku saw it fit to blow right by her.

He sifted around any other obstacles in his way and slid between an opening in the wall she'd made, and as Kirishima watched in horror and tried to keep a very angry Bakugo at bay, Izuku ripped their flag out of its rightful place in the ground.

"Wha—Ashido! Why'd you let him get by so easily?" Once Izuku was gone, Kirishima confronted her. Bakugo was still firing off explosions in the background.

"It was an accident. I-I choked!"

She would admit that, at least, but "choked" didn't even begin to describe it. It was like she flatlined, falling apart the moment Izuku got within a ten foot radius. What kind of hero froze up like that just because of some stupid feelings? Not a strong one, that was for sure.

And what was worse was that Kirishima probably saw the whole thing. "You definitely choked, alright. It looked liked you had him covered too, but I guess not. I was able to hold off Bakugo, so what the hell happened?" he asked, his gaze fixated on her like he was trying to solve some elaborate puzzle. He had every right to be mad.

"Nothing. I just choked, and I don't really wanna talk about it. We're not totally eliminated yet; we can still get more flags, at least. I'll go make up for it, okay?"

He half-assed a nod, eyebrows tightly knitted together. Even though they'd been eliminated defensively, they were still allowed to steal flags from those who hadn't been eliminated yet. She tried to erase the last minute or two from her memory as she headed out and looked for the nearest base that was still playable.

When the final siren went off and the match officially ended, the students stopped whatever fights they were in the middle of and gathered at Ground Beta's front gate. Recovery Girl healed those in need of immediate medical attention, and the teachers began calling out the winners. First place went to Iida and Todoroki, unsurprisingly, since Todoroki's defense had been more than exceptional. Izuku and Uraraka took second, and Mina's team took third.

Mina never did make up for her mishap. She tried for another flag, but ultimately, by the time she made it even remotely close to somebody else's base, the match was put to a halt. She was still proud of the two she'd gotten, though, flaunting them to Hagakure. "I mean, hey, at least I got two. That's pretty good, right?"

Supposedly, Hagakure nodded, but Mina wasn't sure. "Yeah. I... didn't get any, sadly," she said.

Mina tossed her some words of encouragement, and from where Izuku was standing, he was able to listen in. He didn't mean to intrude, but they were just so loud that he couldn't help it.

Wanting a little more context, he took a side glance at the two of them. His eyes inevitably fell on Mina, though, who was wearing a million-watt smile.

She must've been proud of her performance. She did steal two flags, after all, and the only one who got more than her was him. It would've been weird if she wasn't smiling right about now.

It was kind of weird that _he_ was smiling too, actually.

"What's wrong, Midori?"

He realized he was staring, and Mina had caught him. "O-oh, uh, I just overheard you guys and thought I'd say good job."

"You really don't need to do that, y'know," she replied, eyes panning down to her feet. Occasionally her eyelashes would flutter upward, waiting for his reply, but she didn't a deserve to be told she did a good job. "I kinda messed up in the middle there, if you didn't notice."

She could see he was trying to find the right words. "There were times when I messed up, too. I-it's okay, Ashido."

"I know what you're trying to say, but it was _bad_ , Midori. I mean, you saw me, right? I just, like, gave up or something."

 _And even though you have no idea, it was all your fault._

He sighed. "Well, there's always a next time. Just forget about it for now; it was probably a one time thing, right?"

"Right." Wrong. That was definitely wrong. "I guess you can look at it that way."

He nodded, and then he felt somebody tap his shoulder from behind. It was Uraraka. "We came in second. We beat Bakugo, at least."

"I'm surprised he came in fourth, actually. I… kinda got to one of the flags before he could, and he's probably pretty mad at me."

"Serves him right. And whatever we did against Iida, we have to do it again. We should make that our new special combo." She smiled innocently, and Izuku smiled back.

"Oi, Tape Arms, you're absolute dogshit at defense, you know that? We should've been in freaking first, but instead we're in fourth because of you!"

If there was anything that brought joy to everyone in Class 1-A despite their differences, it was Bakugo's screaming. It was almost involuntary for them to stop what they were doing and listen.

Bakugo's face was merely inches away from Sero's, who looked extremely uncomfortable. Nobody blamed him, though, because who _wouldn't_ be uncomfortable in that kind of situation? Bakugo was trying to fearmonger him, popping off as many explosions as his fingers could bare.

"B-but you didn't do too well on offense either, Bakugo…"

There was a sharp raise in his voice. "What did you just say to me?"

Sero sunk until Bakugo was gone from his line of vision. "Nothing… never mind."

He suddenly snapped at Kirishima. "And you, Shitty Hair! If it wasn't for you I would've gotten that damn flag before Deku took it."

Despite that of Sero's response, Kirishima wasn't all that intimidated. "You don't give me enough credit, Bakugo."

"Like hell I don't!"

Mina snickered and turned back around to talk to Hagakure, and this time, even though she knew Izuku and Uraraka were talking about how well they worked as a team, she kept her eyes forward and didn't turn around to look at them.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Mina might've gotten two hours of sleep that night at the most, and that was her trying to convince herself she didn't get any less.

At least it felt that way, because she was up thinking until God knows what hour. And most of her thoughts consisted of her telling herself she was an idiot, because seriously, how come she didn't figure it out sooner?

She was crushing on him. That was undeniable. But _in love_? She'd admitted it herself, but she questioned its truthfulness. Was it possible to fall in love with someone in a matter of weeks?

She thought about his adorable smile and all the nice things he'd said to her, and she swooned.

There was a momentary pause, and, still holding her pillow close to her chest, she sighed.

Whether or not it was possible, she had done it.

Being in love had always been something of a fairy tale to her, something magical. The boy she liked was supposed to like her back, and then they'd start a relationship and fall in love and live happily ever after by the time they got married. But that was unrealistic. She knew that it was, but she hoped there was at least some truthfulness to it. Instead she'd fallen for a guy who was already taken—and by one of her friends, no less—and it definitely wasn't going to play out like it did in her dreams.

Hiding her feelings was going to be hard, but she'd rather that than let them get out and make her life a living hell. So then… what was she supposed to do in the meantime? Keep them under lock and key? She had a feeling they'd get out someday when she least expected them to anyway.

And it would be a bad thing when they did because as of now, her feelings were unrequited, and she wasn't just saying that to pity herself. Izuku had offered her nothing—next to no evidence that would lead her in the right direction, and she guessed that made sense. He was seeing someone, after all. Even today, when Sero had the two of them in a sticky situation—he was too busy caring about his Quirk to notice how close they were and how flustered she was getting.

She liked to muse the idea that maybe she could change his mind. But then she would be betraying Uraraka, and she really didn't want to do that. What would she have to do—stay silent until these feelings went away? And what if they never did? What then?

She rolled over onto the other side of the bed, the rustling of the sheets being the only noise in the room. _Oh well, whatever,_ she thought, and eventually, once she was too tired to function, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - A Bit of a Bad Idea

**A/N:** I've _been working on this all week, and I'm happy to say it's finally finished! I'm relatively proud of this chapter, but I'm a bit iffy on the whole first scene. I tried to include some Kiribaku, but I don't know how people will feel about it so I included some notes about it at the_ _end of the chapter. Also, I know there aren't many scenes between Mina and Izuku, but this is meant to mostly be a bridge chapter for the next part of the story. Don't worry, the next few chapters will be chalk full of IzuMina moments for you_ _guys!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Kirishima reckoned his dream was that of a memory when Bakugo, casually standing outside his bedroom door, asked him how many Crimson Riot posters he had, which was kind of ironic since he'd find out in a few seconds anyway. He twisted the doorknob and pushed it forward, and he had this slightly disturbed look on his face when he was greeted by a display of any and all things Crimson Riot-related.

Although he didn't like to think about it very often, Kirishima knew this memory like the back of his hand. It was the first time he'd hung out with Bakugo outside of school, and it took a lot of convincing to get him on board with it.

It was weird—he was supposedly lucid dreaming, but he just had to lay there and let the memory play out on its own, because his body and mind weren't in line. He hated the feeling of losing control, but at least the recollection was a good one. He wouldn't have woken himself up if his life depended on it.

Bits and pieces of what Kirishima could remember had been changed to his liking, such as Bakugo's attitude. It was toned down a couple of notches, and every now and then he would even smile. It was kind of weird to think about, actually. Bakugo smiling. Now _that_ was a rarity if he'd ever seen one.

The Bakugo in his dreams was sitting on the hardwood floor while he was laying restlessly atop his bed sheets, glancing at his ill-tempered friend every so often when he thought he wasn't looking. For the most part, they were talking about Crimson Riot, but accustomed to the dreamlike state he was in, the conversation would get a little off topic at times. Kirishima would have to reel it back in when it did.

"You're almost as bad as Deku with his freaking All Might obsession," Bakugo mentioned, snarling at the mention of Izuku's name. He didn't tch, surprisingly.

Kirishima glanced sideways at him, trying to swallow down the hurt. He'd been called a fanboy plenty of times before, but to be compared to Izuku? Now _that_ was harsh. "Nah, I don't know about that. Midoriya's worse than me, at least."

"Oh, really? When's the last time you've been in your room, Shitty Hair? Because it's pretty fucking bad."

He narrowed his eyes. "I brought you over here to hang out and you're still gonna call me Shitty Hair?"

"Tch. Fine then, Kirishima. Happy now?"

He scoffed. That was a very Bakugo-esque thing to say. But he _had_ called him Kirishima instead of Shitty Hair, so there was that, at least. He rarely called anyone by name, but if Kirishima could narrow it down to one person he did it to the most, it would be him. So instead of scowling, he smiled and said, "Very!"

"Don't go getting all starry-eyed on me. Fucking weirdo."

What he said next, Kirishima wasn't prepared for. And it was exactly how he'd remembered it, too—word for word.

"You know something, Kirishima? You're pretty damn cool compared to the rest of the shitheads in our class. You've got something they don't."

He hadn't meant for it to be romantic, but Kirishima's heart was having trouble understanding that, pounding uncontrollably against the front of his rib cage. At the time, he couldn't put a finger on why, and he simply had to hide his blush before Bakugo got the wrong idea. Now he did, obviously—now that all these tell-tale signs were flaring back up in his dreams, threatening to bring back his feelings with them.

Kirishima finally gained control of himself, and he was glad to find he could say whatever he wanted to. "Uh, thanks, I guess? I'm guessing that's the closest thing to a compliment I'm gonna get. And… What makes me so special compared to everyone else?"

"You're not a complete tool bag."

Bakugo was the one who was a tool bag, but he didn't really care for minor details at this point. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.

There was a pause, Bakugo glancing down at the floor as if to contemplate what he was about to say. "I'm gonna sit on your bed, Kirishima."

Okay, now he was _really_ overusing the name-calling thing. It was starting to get a little weird, even for a dream. Bakugo definitely didn't do anything like this in real life.

"A-are you sure, man? It's kinda cramped up here." In an act of surprise, he'd startled himself up from laying down and was now sitting on the end of his bed, face flushed a red so bright that it could've rivaled his hair. Bakugo took a seat beside him, the bed sinking slightly as the reality of it all barreled into his mind: Bakugo was _willingly_ sitting here, next to him, _on his bed_. Bakugo was _on his bed_.

This was nothing like how he remembered.

"Eh? What's wrong, Kirishima? Got a problem with this, do you?"

"N-no! Of course not, not at all!"

Bakugo smirked, and Kirishima nearly jumped out of his skin. He leaned in a little closer. "What the hell's your problem, Kirishima? Like this shit?"

Both the version of him in his dreams and the one curled up in bed were equally frustrated, watching along in agony as Bakugo played a twisted game with his heart. He couldn't get over being called Kirishima.

"What are you thinking right now, Kirishima?"

He'd caught on.

"You like that, don't you, Kirishima. How about I say it again?"

He leaned in a little more, his lips so close that Kirishima could taste them. He tried to back away, but Bakugo was only getting closer. Panic bubbled in his chest as he realized what was happening, and he didn't know whether to accept the kiss with open arms or to shun away. But either way, he didn't have much time to decide.

He decided he didn't _want_ time, and knowing what direction this dream was going in, he forced himself awake.

He wasn't about to let that memory get tainted. It held a certain importance to him, and to ruin it with something so tactless, so dirty—he would've been a fool.

Just because he escaped a shit show didn't mean he wasn't irritated, though. It was only a Tuesday, and he still had a whole week ahead of him, far too early for this kind of thing. And just yesterday Ashido had screwed up big time with that Quirk exercise.

He sighed, sick of being busy with all of this school work and life in general. He needed something to look forward to, something to ease his mind.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Later that afternoon, not long after classes had ended, Mina kicked back and relaxed on the end of her bed in the hopes of having the afternoon to herself, but a knock at the door stirred her out of her comfort zone. Sighing, she set her phone aside and answered the door, and she was surprised to find Uraraka waiting on the other side. She was cradling one of her notebooks in her arms. "Sorry to bother you, Mina, but can I borrow your English notes?"

There was a subtle pause before Mina started to laugh. "Sure you can, but what happened to yours? Aren't _I_ usually the one asking _you_ for notes?"

"Well, I, um, kinda ripped out the wrong page and thrown them away."

Uraraka had said that so seriously that it was hard for Mina not to laugh even harder than she already was, but she refrained. They had an English quiz tomorrow, which explained the exasperated look on her face, and she didn't want Uraraka to hurt even more than she already did. "That's rough, Ochako. I mean, geez. Here"—she handed her her notebook, which had already been flipped to the right page—"and sorry about all the ugly doodles."

"Can I hang out for a little while?"

"Sure thing."

Uraraka got comfortable on the edge of her bed, and Mina sat beside her, tapping away on her phone. The sound of Uraraka's pencil hitting the paper dominated the room for a few uneventful minutes, but eventually, Mina gathered up the courage to make some small talk.

And by small talk, she meant the kind of questions only _she_ would use to start a conversation, as in the let's-discuss-the-boys-in-our-class kind of small talk.

And so, she asked the stupidest thing that came to her mind right then, both for her feelings and for Uraraka's. "So, how are things with Midoriya?"

Uraraka visibly flinched, her pencil breaking at the tip. Mina watched on and regretted this already, but she was still curious, and for more reasons than one.

"They're fine, I guess. I-It's okay."

"Just okay?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I feel like we're still just friends even though we're supposed to be a _t-thing_ or whatever, because he can be kind of… distant, I guess."

Mina would be lying if she said she wasn't the tiniest bit relieved, and she wanted more information but no information at all at the same time. She'd already delved in this far, though, so there was no point in turning back. "Like, what do you mean?"

"I mean… It's just that I like him, and I think he likes me, but sometimes I feel like he treats me the same way he treats everyone else. Take you, for example. You two are friends, and he talks to you like a friend, and I feel like he only talks to me that way too unless I say otherwise."

 _He talks to you like a friend._

Mina fell silent; her heart felt like it'd just been ripped out of her chest. Uraraka's words were the knife, and even though she knew them to be true, to hear them come out of somebody else's mouth—her friend's mouth, her crush's _girlfriend's_ mouth—was something else. She'd always been one to wear her heart on her sleeve, but today was the first time she truly felt like an open book, Uraraka turning the pages with ease.

She swallowed hard, biting back her feelings in fear that Uraraka would figure them out. That would be a worst-case scenario, and it certainly wasn't going to happen on her watch.

"You've really got nothing to worry about, Uraraka. H-he likes you, I'm sure of it. I mean, he gets nervous around you, doesn't he? I think if you back off a little and act naturally instead of asking to hold hands and stuff, it'll be for the better. Let him get accustomed to being with you."

Now if this was anyone else she was giving advice to, she would've told them to pursue their desires and throw them out there for all the world to see, but she was taking the selfish route this time around. She was putting her feelings ahead of Uraraka's, and being an asshole about it too.

She realized how self-centered she was becoming, and suddenly she felt sick to her stomach.

Before she could fall into the deep, dark rabbit hole of self-hatred, though, the devilish side of her came out to play. This was the side of her she liked to keep locked away, the side of her that was mischievous and only liked to cause trouble. It paraded on all of the fun and asked the questions she was too afraid to think of herself, and it was usually nothing but a pain. But for today, at least, it was a tiny bit productive, managing to save her from the barrage of self-pity she would've doused herself in if it hadn't been there.

But still, it did have its downsides. It made her ask all the wrong questions, think in all the wrong ways. Why should she have let her selfishness bother her so much, anyway? Didn't she like Izuku, too? So what if Uraraka wanted him as much as she did?

Again, after that, she felt sick, and she needed to take a break.

Uraraka stopped twirling her hair, finally gaining the confident air about her that Mina had recently lost. "Are you sure I shouldn't just tell him how I feel? It's just, I feel like that might make things clearer."

"Ochako, this is Midoriya we're talking about. You'll probably scare him half to death. Besides, he's already nervous enough, so why would you wanna worry him even more?"

She nodded, giggling a little when Mina mentioned the part about scaring him away. "Yeah, he'd probably run from me if I said I wanted to kiss him."

Mina's eyes widened. "You want to kiss him? Wait, _have_ you kissed him?" She really hoped the answer to that question was no.

"O-of course not! B-but after the dance and after we make it official and everything, I want to."

So they both wanted to kiss him.

She smiled at her idiocy. That was obvious, wasn't it?

"But, on another note, you weren't lying about these doodles, Mina. They're hideous."

"Oh my God, I know, right? Did you see the one of Kaminari?"

"Not yet."

Mina gushed, grabbing the notebook away from her. She set it between the two of them and flipped to the next page, pointing to a very unproportional drawing of Chargebolt after he'd gone above his wattage limit. Uraraka took one look at it and mentioned how one of the eyes was lopsided, and the two of them fell backward into a puddle of nonstop laughter.

Mina almost didn't have it in her to even think about being selfish anymore. Uraraka's feelings were genuine, maybe even as genuine as hers, and she couldn't just throw their friendship out the door. But she also couldn't just throw her feelings out the door, either.

She wanted to scream. Why did liking someone have to be so goddamn confusing?

Uraraka finished copying down the last of Mina's notes and then waved goodbye as she headed downstairs. As soon as she closed the door, Mina let out a much-needed sigh and collapsed into a ball on her bed.

She had things she needed to do, homework she needed to get done, but instead she was busy wondering what the hell she was going to do with her feelings. She needed to go downstairs, get out of her headspace, grab something to eat and talk to her friends a little. She needed _something_ to get him off of her mind, even if it was just for today. Actually, she hoped today would be the only day because he'd quickly become her favorite person to talk to, and she wanted to do some more of that before the dance came around and he handed himself over to Uraraka.

She sighed, and that begged the question: wasn't there anything else for her to think about? Because at this rate, she was going to lose her mind.

Apparently there was, because her phone buzzed just loudly enough to draw her attention away from her wandering thoughts and back onto something less serious. She flipped it over, and staring back at her on the screen was a text from Sero. **Do you** **guys wanna go to a party this** **weekend?**

She must have read that message three times over, because there was _no way_ he was being serious. He'd said a _party_ , an actual, legitimate high school party, and for the first time since the beginning of the school year, she had been invited to it. She'd waited her whole high school life for this chance. U.A. was great and all, truly, but freedom wasn't up there as one of its perks, and something about sneaking out and enjoying a night without any responsibilities was just calling out to her. Her middle school friends had been going to plenty of parties since she started at U.A., and from what their Instagram stories had to show, they looked like a lot of fun.

Suddenly the group chat was blowing up with questions. Kaminari, Kirishima, and Bakugo were all in favor of the idea, as was she. Although she probably shouldn't have been, because as her luck would have it, there was a good chance the night would turn into a total dumpster fire. But they were already known as the troublemakers of the class, so what did it matter?

Sero announced that it was his brother who was hosting the party, and it was supposed to be some end of the year graduation celebration. Apparently he was going to college next year and wanted to go down as a living legend or something along those lines. They'd have to sneak out on Saturday night at around nine, and much to Mina's excitement, the party was supposed to be big; around eighty or ninety people were invited, and that was only _so far_. Finally, she was squealing over something that wasn't Izuku for the first time in weeks.

Speaking of Izuku, she thought that maybe, just _maybe_ , she could get him to come along for the ride.

A bad idea, no doubt, but with a little persuasion and some beating around the bush, she could make it work. She'd just have to keep it a secret from the others.

Besides, if these feelings of hers really were going to amount to nothing more than unrequited love, she wanted them to go out, and she wanted them to go out with a bang.

After her mind was made up, there wasn't a lick of hesitance in her body as she tapped Izuku's contact and FaceTimed him, hoping desperately for him to pick up. He did, eventually, after a few rings or so, and by the looks of it he was finishing the homework she hadn't even started.

"Hey, Midoriya! So I think I might know the answer already, but I have a question. Have you ever been to a party?"

He looked a little confused after hearing her remark, the smile he was wearing earlier falling off of his face. He was happy when he realized she'd called, surprisingly happy, actually, even by his standards, but now—not so much. He'd just picked up the phone after all, and Mina hadn't even given him the chance to say hello. "N-not that I know of. How could I with U.A. and everything?"

"Okay, well you're not gonna believe this. Sero's brother is having a party this weekend, and I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to come?"

Izuku was silent for a second, eyes turning away from the screen. Parties were not his forte, nor were they something he'd ever considered. They were a breeding ground for trouble, especially at a prestigious school like U.A. He didn't know the first thing about a party, and to just get up and go to one out of the blue like that when he was already known as the problem child? He must've been mad. And he would be going with all of Mina's friends, no less, who he didn't exactly hang out with on a daily basis. "I don't know, Ashido. Is it a small party or a big one? And… Is Kacchan going to be there?"

She was worried she'd burn a hole through her clothes if she wasn't careful because she was starting to sweat at the thought of what she was about to say. "Supposedly it'll be pretty small, so you don't have to worry about any crowds. Around thirty or forty people are coming, I think." She only meant it as a harmless white lie, but she knew it'd quickly become more than that. It was also the deciding factor in whether or not Izuku would be there. "We, uh, _did_ invite Bakugo, but I don't think you should worry. He's not gonna care who's coming as long as he gets the night to himself."

Her argument was impressive, but he still wasn't convinced. He'd already been on house arrest once this year, and to go through it again sounded like a nightmare in the making. Besides, he wasn't the party kind of person, and he'd probably make a fool of himself the moment he walked in the door. And if this was anything like all the other high school parties he'd heard about, there was no doubt going to be alcohol, and alcohol would turn the night into a total and utter disaster.

Mina could see him second guessing himself as he went through all of the pros and cons in his head, and she thought his thinking face was kind of cute. Really cute, actually. "C'mon, Midori, I know parties aren't really your scene, but you've just _gotta_ try one out! Be a high schooler for once in your life! You'll regret it one day if you miss out on this, trust me."

"I really don't know, Ashido. Do I have to go?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because it won't be the same without you!"

She _needed_ him to be there. It was a necessity, and it looked like she'd finally gotten the point across. He took one look at the way she was looking at him, eyes filled with prayer and plea, and he decided.

There was absolutely no way in hell he could say no.

"Okay. I'll go with you then, I guess."

She'd gotten him with those puppy dog eyes, but he couldn't be the one to blame. He simply had no other reason to say no besides the fact that this could get him in deep trouble, but he'd deal with that later. At least Mina would be happy, and who knows? Maybe he would be, too. Maybe he would enjoy this.

"Aah, this is amazing! I'm so glad you're gonna be there, Midori! I thought you'd be so much harder to convince, but can you believe it? We're about to go to a party, and it'll be a first time for the both of us!"

His uncertainty shined through in the way he laughed, anxiety bubbling up in the back of his throat. He scratched the side of his cheek. "Yeah. Can't wait, Ashido."

"Okay, but there's just one last thing. You can't say a word about this, not even to Uraraka. Got that?"

"W-what? Why not—"

"Just meet us in the common area on Saturday night at nine, okay?"

His voice must've risen at least a few octaves as he pleaded for her to explain further. "N-nine? Isn't that kind late? Ashido, are you—"

"Looks like you know what the plan is, so I'll see you later, Midoriya! Oh, and make sure to dress in party clothes! Bye, then!"

Izuku made a last-ditch effort to draw out an explanation, but his eleventh-hour stammering was either ignored or unheard entirely, leaving him in a daze as she cut the call from the other end. What he'd just agreed to do finally caught up to him, and he was left wondering if this was really such a good idea.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Feeling accomplished, Mina left her room and headed downstairs for a bite to eat, a certain confidence in the way she walked. She'd gotten her homework done early for once, and if that wasn't a call for celebration, she didn't know what was. She knew it was far too early for dinner with the sun still up and all, but she thought she at least deserved a little something. So she settled on a snack, and she needed to get her hands on one soon because otherwise she'd get hungry and start to lose her patience.

Raiding the cabinets and the fridge, she grabbed the junkiest junk food she could find and tried to make a beeline back to her room. But something (or someone, rather) caught her eye before she could even make it out of the kitchen, and suddenly she couldn't look away.

Izuku was sitting right there, slouched back against the couch like he hadn't a care in the world, but he wasn't the reason she was uncomfortable. It was _Uraraka_ who was bothering her, carrying two cups of steaming hot tea with her as she sat beside him, handing him one of the cups. Turning her attention elsewhere was proving to be difficult, and the reason was pretty obvious.

And that was when she rammed right into somebody's chest.

Patting the front of her head, she glanced upward just a little and met eyes with the person she'd collided with—Kirishima. The two of them shared a knowing glance.

He'd surely put the pieces together by now.

She couldn't quite handle the embarrassment, and she turned away. That was all he needed to solidify his suspicions.

"You like him, don't you?"

Maybe cracking a joke would lighten the mood a little. "Well, don't you have an eye for the obvious," she teased, and if she wasn't tripping over her words like a deer in headlights than maybe that would've sounded so much smoother.

There was a moment when neither of them spoke, and the silence was more deafening than anything she'd heard in a while.

Eventually, it became unbearable, and he said something. "I figured."

"Yeah."

"Since when?"

Mina looked up and around her, double-checking to make sure there was no one else around. Thankfully, everyone had their own things to worry about. "Since a while ago, probably. I didn't actually realize it until yesterday, though."

There was another insufferable silence.

"Y'know what, Kirishima? I've got all this food in my hands and it's making me hungry. I don't wanna talk about this for much longer."

The two got them snagged a nearby table and sat facing one another, Mina opening a box of strawberry Pocky. She loved Pocky almost as much as she loved break dancing and hanging out with the girls, and right now, that was all she wanted to think about.

But sadly, Kirishima's curiosity had gotten the best of him, and she didn't blame him for that. He had just figured out who she had a crush on, after all. "It's kinda crazy how you like Midoriya of all people."

She raised an eyebrow, getting on the defensive. "Why's that?"

"It's just, why him? What does he do that you like so much?"

"I don't know, Kirishima. Why do you like Bakugo so much?"

"That's a good question."

She nearly slammed her fist down on the table. "See! You don't know either, do you? Isn't it normal not to know?"

"Y-y'know what? It was stupid of me to ask," he stuttered. Her forwardness had startled him, and he had to collect himself before continuing. "So… What are you gonna do?"

"Hell if I know! I can't exactly say anything about it since he's already dating someone, so…"

"So you're gonna keep it a secret?"

"I'm gonna try, at least. For however long that's gonna last," she chuckled, lowering her head onto the table. She was resting so comfortably that she could've fallen asleep if she wasn't careful, but she wouldn't for the sake of Kirishima's curiosity, letting out a defeated sigh as she looked out amongst the common area. "It's just that I really like him, Kiri, and I don't know what to do!"

He didn't know what to do either, it seemed. He wasn't any better with feelings than she was. He offered nothing more than a simple sigh, grabbing at a bag of chips and opening it loudly to fill the silence.

For him to figure out her feelings like this so soon—she was humiliated. It'd only been a day since she'd realized them herself and somehow somebody had already caught on to her, drawing her out of her shell. Of course, since it was Kirishima it wasn't the end of the world, but it didn't change the fact that she was making her feelings blatantly obvious.

"Can we talk about something else?" she asked, nibbling away at the end of a Pocky and relishing in the strawberry coating. "How about that _awesome_ party this weekend?"

Suddenly the whole room seemed to light up. "Dude, have you ever been to one before? We're gonna be up till, like, two in the morning!"

"Later than that, Kiri. Three or four at the least."

"Stay out that late and we'll be caught red-handed the moment we walk in the door. Besides, the party will be over way before then."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it might last until two or two thirty at the latest. And I've heard Mr. Aizawa wakes up early—like, _really_ early—so it's probably not a great idea to stay out till then anyway."

She sighed, dragging her fingers along the table. "We at least have to stay for as long as possible, then."

Neither of them said anything after that, listening in on their classmates' conversations to eat away at the silence. Mina kept busy with Instagram memes while Kirishima occasionally showed her a video of some YouTuber he liked, but otherwise there was nothing but the sound of the heater to keep them company as they sat there and bored themselves out of their minds.

Eventually, Kirishima drew in a heavy, bracing breath, and its audibility caught Mina's attention as she looked up at him. "Hey, Ashido?" he asked.

"What's up?"

"Do you think Bakugo's gonna get wasted?"

She smiled wildly; there was so much teasing to be had in this conversation that it wasn't even funny. "Oh, I see. So you wanna take advantage of him, do you."

Akin to what she'd planned, his cheeks went a deep, fervent red. "O-of course not! I'm not that kind of person! I just thought that maybe he'd be a little more willing to talk if he was drunk. Maybe he'd open up to me a little."

She rolled her eyes. "My God, Kiri. You've got to be crazy if you think he doesn't like you."

"He doesn't!"

"He does!"

Still looking skeptical, he asked, "How so?"

"Well for starters, you're pretty much the only person he calls by name. And I know you're thinking that doesn't mean much, but he _only_ calls people by their name if he likes and respects them."

"What does that have to do with him liking me?"

"Give me a second, will you? I'm getting there," she insisted, narrowing her eyes at him. Afterward, she continued. "You two are best friends, and he even leans on you for support sometimes! Does he do that with anyone else in the class? Of course not! He likes you, Kirishima—as a friend at least."

Kirishima was certainly not convinced, eyes filled with indecision as he stared at the display of snacks in front of him. There were only a few unopened bags of potato chips left on the table, the super healthy kind that neither of them were willing to eat. "He doesn't like me the way I like him, though."

"I don't know about that, Kiri. I've seen him get pretty close and personal with you before, and he speaks pretty highly of you when he's having a good day. He treats you differently than he treats the rest of us—with more care and compassion, almost like you're special to him—which is kind of ironic since we're his friends, too." She was talking about their friend group, who were all pretty close with Bakugo. "He just… has a good vibe about him when he's around you."

A lot of what she said he already knew, like the name calling and the part about being his best friend. But he was relatively uninformed on the other stuff, which was crazy to think about because he didn't know Bakugo thought of him like that. It didn't exactly solidify any romantic feelings or anything, but it was a start. And when did he ever get close and personal?

"A-are you sure, Ashido? I really don't know…"

"Very, and I'll find a way to prove it to you if it's the last thing I do."

 **\- o - o - o -**

Turns out it wasn't the last thing she did; it was the very next one actually, at least in terms of mildly important events, and it didn't even take her that long to find the evidence—only until around nine o'clock that night, when she honestly wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

"Oh my God, Kiri, it's so obvious. He's got a thing for you!"

Kirishima stiffened, jumping at Mina's remark as Bakugo fell further into the crook of his shoulder. "Of course he doesn't! Why are you so dead set on this?"

"Okay, then how do you explain that?" she asked, pointing toward the scene playing out in front of her. She'd walked in on the two of them like this, Bakugo sleeping soundly by his best friend's side, and the way he leaned into Kirishima's shoulder made them look like a little more than just friends. The proof was right there; did she need to say anymore?

Apparently so, because Kirishima was still fighting her on this. Seriously, how far off from the truth could she have been? "He just fell asleep like this! Honest!"

Bakugo stirred slightly at the sound of his friend's voice, his head rolling forward as he let out a snore, and Kirishima watched in horror until he fell back against the couch again.

Mina shushed him, lowering her voice as well. "So you two have been sitting like that for a while then, huh?"

Kirishima's face noticeably flushed as he tried to explain himself. "He just leaned this way after falling asleep, that's all. There's really nothing more to it."

"He leaned that way because he likes you, smarty. That's, like, the biggest cliche in the book. You're living under a rock if you've never heard that one."

"This is real life. Cliches don't mean anything."

Mina rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. His denial was infuriating, especially when she looked at where she was standing with Izuku. "Just keep telling yourself that and you'll figure it out eventually. I mean, at least you actually have a chance with your crush, unlike me."

"What do you mean? You've at least got somewhat of a chance, don't you? You two are friends, at least."

"Kirishima, he's got Uraraka already. You and I both know that," she sighed, biting her lip as she tried to bottle up her feelings. She let out a breath filled with sorrow, anguish; she'd pretty much accepted that fact by now.

"Y'know what's pretty funny? We're actually kinda similar, Ashido, in the sense that we've both got a crush on someone who doesn't like us back, and we're both just tryna confide in each other."

"Only one of us does," she corrected. "Bakugo likes you."

Again, he whispered, "No, he doesn't, but whatever."

"What're we talking about, guys?"

Mina nearly had a heart attack when she heard that. Kaminari's voice was obnoxiously close to her ear, and she only knew it was him because no one else's voice was that high when they were excited. "Geez, dude, you don't need to scare me like that. And how much did you hear?"

"Nothing, I guess? I just got here. Why, is there something I shouldn't know?"

"N-no, not at all. Just… Forget I said anything."

Leaning against the back of the couch, Kaminari finally noticed the display of affection going on between Kirishima and Bakugo. "You two are getting pretty comfy over there, aren't you now?"

They did indeed look relatively cozy for being "just friends", and even though no one had noticed until now, they were closer than they were a few minutes ago. Kirishima had his arm wrapped around Bakugo's shoulders, keeping him firmly in place, and didn't seem to mind the fact that he was getting drooled on. Who knew Bakugo was such a heavy sleeper.

"N-not really," Kirishima stuttered, scratching the back of his neck. Kaminari ignored him and brought up something that all three of them could agree on: how excited he was for the party this weekend and how much of a crazy night out it would be.

Mina forgot almost entirely about her day prior to this as the three of them delved into a conversation about parties, alcohol (which, in all honesty, they didn't know much about), and the like, and rightfully so, because she had a party to look forward to and nothing could take this away from her.

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
**

 **A/N:** _About the Kiribaku thing, I did hear a lot of reviews about it being forced, so I tried my hardest to clarify it better in this chapter. We'll be getting Bakugo's thoughts on it soon as well. Also, I know that culturally Japan doesn't do a lot of house parties, but for the sake of plot, and because I don't think it's really that big of a deal, I'm including it. Feedback is always welcome, and I'd love to hear what people think!_


	9. Chapter 9 - Letting Go (For Tonight)

**A/N:** _I got a ton of reviews last chapter about the Kiribaku thing, and most people didn't like it. I think I approached it the wrong way, but I'll get to that more during my replies to the chapter reviews, which will be in the author's note at the end of the chapter. For now, just know that I think (or at least hope) you'll enjoy this, and I can say I had a good time writing it!_ _I split the party scene into two chapters, so this is actually only part one!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -** _  
_

"Oh, c'mon… Where the hell did I leave my phone? I need to know what time it is!"

Mina nearly had a panic attack when it dawned on her for the fifteenth time in the last five minutes: she was going to be late. She was in a rush, the life-or-death kind, only minutes to spare before her friends left without her, and she wasn't even wearing the right clothes yet! Saturday had completely snuck up behind her before she even realized it, and now she was paying the price—either risk being late to the most incredible night of her life or do the practical thing and run out the door at the last minute.

She chose the latter option, obviously, throwing together an outfit she bought at the mall a few weeks ago and slipping on a new pair of black boots, stuffing some extra money inside them just in case. She checked the only place she could think of for her phone—under her bed. It was there, alright, but not in the way she was expecting, the screen covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. She did a half-assed job at doing her makeup, and then, without looking back, she swung the door open and headed toward the elevator, smiling when she saw everyone waiting for her in the common area.

Mina greeted them all and then let her eyes fall on Jirou, whose presence stood out like a sore thumb. She didn't fit the embodiment of a party girl, at least from what Mina could remember, nor had she proven herself to be very rebellious. But the more the merrier, right? "Jirou, are you coming too?" she asked, kind of assuming the answer was yes. "Thank God another girl is going! Y'know, to be honest, I thought I'd be all alone with these dimwits."

She wasn't expecting Jirou to laugh, so she wasn't all that surprised when she didn't. "Yeah, I figured I would last night when Kaminari invited me," she replied, motioning toward the boy beside her, and Kaminari waved at Mina with a slightly apologetic smile on his face, almost like he'd done something wrong. She wanted to tell him that no, he hadn't done anything wrong, and he shouldn't have been so worried because she'd done the exact same thing.

Suddenly she had the urge to look out amongst the crowd for Izuku, who was still a no-show. He was even later than she was, and for a brief second she thought that maybe he'd abandoned her. But then she remembered he wouldn't have the guts to do that, not without warning her first. He was Izuku, after all.

"It's already past nine, you guys. We gotta get going. We aren't waiting on anyone, are we?" Jirou asked, looking down at her phone to presumably check the time. Everyone else shook their heads no.

"Wait."

They'd already taken a few steps forward, but they stopped in their tracks and turned around to face Mina, whose eyes were just begging for them not to go.

"We're still waiting on one more person."

Kirishima looked her square in the eye and raised an eyebrow. She'd told him what she had in store already so that at least one person would be on her side when Izuku showed up, and that way things wouldn't be so awkward. But the inevitable awkwardness of it all still scared her.

And the awkwardness would _definitely_ prove itself to be inevitable, especially with the brilliance of Izuku's timing. He popped out from around the corner just moments after she mentioned him and his involvement in their plans.

There was a beat of silence as he waved at them clumsily, and she and Kirishima were the only ones to wave back. And then, like the meddlers they were, the rest of her friends gave her a little slice of hell.

" _Midoriya?_ " Kaminari asked, mouth hanging open in shock. For Izuku to even _entertain_ the idea of a party was irrational enough in its own right, but for him to actually go to one? Now _that_ was on another level of insane.

"H-hey, guys," he stuttered, smiling and walking toward them, standing beside Mina. He didn't want to seem clingy, so he kept his distance.

Mina answered the question on everyone's mind. "So, yeah… I, uh, invited Midoriya to come with us! Sorry, I know it's kinda sudden, but I thought I'd keep it a surprise," she exclaimed.

Bakugo was losing his patience somewhere on the other side of the room, standing as far away from Izuku as possible. He was shooting daggers at her, but that was irrelevant. All of her other friends gave her the same sideways glance as he did, just with a little less malice, but she ignored them and their stupid questions. She didn't really care what they thought. Instead, she turned toward Izuku with open arms. "Aren't you super excited, Midori?"

He nodded, glad that Mina was on his side, at least. He looked at her and gave her that smile again, _really_ looked at her, this time, and he finally noticed her outfit. It was different from what he was used to. She had on a mock neck crop top with a sweatshirt tied around her waist, finishing off the look with a pair of denim jeans that, quite frankly, hugged her figure nicely—mostly informal wear, but it made him feel slightly overdressed. He'd never seen her wear makeup before either, mostly because of school regulations, but now he'd never look at her the same way again. She looked like more than just a classmate, more than just his friend—she looked like a _girl._

Kaminari and Sero were ogling her, too, but with much more perverted looks in their faces, and he didn't like that. He hated it, actually, and it wasn't because of the _way_ they were looking at her. He simply hated that they were ogling her at all.

He shook his head and took a deep breath. He really shouldn't have been thinking these things.

He seriously wondered if he should've gone a little more bold with his outfit, but he looked at the guys around him and concluded that these were the kinds of clothes everyone wore. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt was enough, anything more and he would've been overdressed. Google was true to its word, and maybe if he hadn't second-guessed himself he wouldn't have been so late.

Mina looked up at him with a mischievous smile on her face. "I like your outfit, Midori."

"Thanks. I like yours, too."

But that smile quickly turned into a smirk, and Izuku would've been lying if he said he didn't notice this. "Thanks! Google must've been a big help to you, huh?" she teased, and she snickered as his face went from pale to crimson red.

"H-how do you know that?"

She prodded at the cotton of his t-shirt, pulling it slightly. "You'd never wear this."

He didn't have anything left to say. She wasn't wrong.

Wanting to avoid any and all chances of bumping into their homeroom teacher, the seven of them left the dorms shortly after, starting their walk toward the train station. Mina shivered and threw on her sweatshirt when the nighttime breeze grazed her skin, and she regretted not wearing something heavier. To think that it was already almost March was unbelievable, especially since it'd only been a month since she started teaching Izuku how to dance and now they were about as close as friends could get, even branching out as far as to go to a party together.

Sero managed to slip himself between the two of them, pushing Izuku out of the picture. She could've punched him square in the face right then and there if she wanted to, but she had the self-control to hold on to her dignity and refrain. For now, at least.

"You sure about this, Ashido? Bringing _Midoriya_ to a party? I mean, I love the guy, but he's a bit of a goody two-shoes."

Oh, so this was what he wanted. "It'll be fine, dude. Calm down, will you?"

"He's just kinda got this 'eternal virgin' aura about him, you know what I mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, Sero, he does _not_. If anything, I think you've got that more than anyone."

Sero looked hurt, and she couldn't have cared less. He backed off when he realized he wasn't winning the argument.

The train ride was loud and crowded, and they didn't get off until they were about a mile or so out of Sero's neighborhood. They had to walk the rest of the way, and suddenly, when his house started approaching on the horizon, Mina couldn't contain her excitement. It could've been a mansion if she didn't know any better, and by the time they got to the driveway she could already hear the music seeping through the walls.

Everyone followed closely behind as Sero walked up the stairs and knocked on the front door. The person who answered was without a doubt his brother, judging solely by the elbows, and even though he looked a little older and more mature than his younger counterpart, they both had the same facial features and scraggly black hair. He invited them in, telling them not to be too loud as to avoid bothering the neighbors.

Mina felt so in her element when she walked through that door. The music was electrifying, its intensity shocking her to the bone, and the atmosphere was so _her;_ everything she'd ever considered to be gratifying up until now was nothing compared to this, and she seriously regretted not putting herself out there a long time ago. Suddenly she was hit with a burst of adrenaline, and she could've talked to every single person in that room if she put her mind to it. For the very first time since the beginning of high school it felt like she could do anything, whatever she pleased, even if it was just for tonight. There were no boundaries.

Izuku clearly didn't feel the same way about it all, though, and although she tried to keep it to herself, that put a total damper on her mood. She could tell just by looking at him. He was sweating from head to toe, and he looked almost as nervous he did when he first came to U.A.—scared and uneasy, incapable of uttering a single sentence. She wished she would've grabbed onto his hand, but something about that terrified her. "You don't have to be so nervous, Midoriya. It'll be fine. I wouldn't have invited you otherwise."

Her words were comforting, and he wanted to smile. "I know, i-it's just that I don't really know what goes on at parties…"

"Talking, hanging out, dancing, drinking—whatever comes to mind, I guess. You just gotta be social."

He nodded, looking around the room, taking in the atmosphere. Just from a first glance, he could tell this place was going to be a lot of fun, but he wasn't all that interested in consuming alcohol like she was. Maybe he'd have a cup of beer or two to put his mind at ease, but otherwise he was staying sober.

It wasn't long before Mina figured out why Sero's brother was so persistent on inviting them. It had everything to do with his party's popularity and their status as U.A. students, which was only meant to draw in people's attention from the get-go. They were surrounded by guests the moment they walked through the door, most of them older than they were, who wouldn't stop asking questions about both their school lives and their personal ones, and Mina was going to lose it if they didn't back off. She simply wanted to grab a little alcohol and get a buzz going, but with all these people blocking her way, she couldn't possibly find an opening to do so. And apparently she was "that girl with the Acid Quirk" instead of Mina Ashido, which kind of threw her for a loop because they all wanted to talk to her and none of them even know her name.

Fed up, she snuck by them all when the opportunity arose and found Kaminari by all the alcohol, and the two of them seemed to have the exact same idea because they both reached for a bottle of beer and poured each other a drink. Mina headed back into the living room, music blasting in her ears, and she noticed that Izuku was staring at her drink. "Want some?"

That was a stupid question. The answer was obvious. "No, just… Isn't it a little early to be drinking?"

"It's only one drink, Midoriya. I just need to feel the buzz, and then I'll stop."

"Okay, i-if that's what you say," he replied, and he knew he sounded a little skeptical. He was simply jaded from all the attention, especially from a bunch of eighteen year olds, and with Mina wasted he'd have no one to talk to. Kirishima was a debatable option, but he'd probably be too busy with Bakugo to bother with him. He sighed, his eyes falling toward Mina, who was looking out over the crowd of people in front of her.

Her heart was thumping loudly against the front of her rib cage, threatening to bring back the emotions she'd tried to suppress, but she swallowed them down and waited patiently as a strong sense of nostalgia washed over her. They were only a few feet away from the dance floor, and suddenly she missed those late night training sessions with Izuku where they'd dance for hours on end, talking and laughing and making fun of each other like it was the funniest thing in the world. And maybe, back then, it was, but she'd just neglected to realize it until now. And she thought "training sessions" was a funny way to describe them since most of the time he spent tripping over himself, but it was the only valid thing she could come up with on the spot.

"Wanna dance?" she asked, and despite her enthusiastic smile, she was nervous more than anything. "This music's got a good beat."

"I'd like that, I guess," he replied, and he felt reassured knowing she wasn't talking about a slow dance. Last time they did that it didn't end so well.

Knowing she couldn't just leave her drink laying around in a place like this, she downed the rest of it quickly and dragged Izuku out onto the floor. He was a little hesitant to loosen up in the first few minutes, but upon remembering what she'd taught him, he relaxed and let the music take him away.

They danced like that for a while, loose and compulsory, and he got that very same sense of nostalgia she was experiencing, barreling him in the back of the head like a truck. Even though he knew it'd only been a week since their last late-night training session, it felt like forever had gone by since then, and he realized how much he missed them already.

He was so caught up in the nostalgia that when he looked up to see if Mina felt the same, he almost didn't notice the wave of understanding that passed between them.

She smiled another one of those million-watt smiles. "This brings back memories, huh?"

He wished he could've said yes. He really did, and he would've screamed it to the whole world if he got the chance because of how frustrating this was. She'd left him speechless. _Speechless._ How had she managed _that?_ It was strange—one moment he was talking to her like he would any other day and the next thing he knew the words were stuck in the back of his throat, tying his tongue together in knots as she let the music carry her away. And for whatever reason, there was a moment in time when he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

He needed to give her an answer, and so he nodded a few more times than necessary. He knew this was unnatural, but thank God she was too wrapped up in the music to notice.

It was when he looked her into the eyes for the first time, their golden glow burning brighter than the light of a thousand stars, that he realized he'd neglected to notice something he should've figured out a long time ago.

 _Since when had she been so pretty?_

She smiled, her cheeks beginning to flush purple. "I'm feeling kinda great right now, Midoriya. I think the alcohol is kicking in!"

He wanted to tell her that maybe she should tread lightly with the liquor, but he trusted her enough to let her make her own decisions. Sure, she could be reckless sometimes, but she wasn't an idiot.

A song from the 80's or 90's came on, and Mina had an idea. "Hey, I should show you how I breakdance!"

He smiled. He'd wanted to see her breakdance for a while. "Okay."

And so she did a quick warm up stretch, giving herself a pep talk and busting out her best moves. She knew she'd draw a lot of attention to herself like this, especially showing off such a rare talent, but she didn't expect people to form a circle around her, watching her in awe as she spun until she couldn't see straight anymore.

After standing up and regaining her balance, she was surrounded by the guests who'd watched her performance, most of whom were men. She shrugged them all off and walked toward Izuku, who was just as in awe as everyone else, and she was glad for that because he was the only one she cared about.

"I didn't know you could dance like that, Ashido. It was amazing, like you were some kind of professional!"

His words struck a chord in her heart, breaking her into the best kind of shambles. Her cheeks were on fire, and she didn't know if it was because of him or the alcohol. "Well I've been doing it forever, so I guess it just comes natural," she replied, swallowing down her smile.

"I-I'd do anything to have a talent like that."

"You do have one."

"I do?"

"Uh, _hello?_ You _are_ a fanboy, aren't you? Like, the biggest one around!"

He flushed. "B-but that's not a talent!"

"Sure it is. It means you're dedicated. You're smart; are you gonna tell me that's not a talent, either?"

He shook his head. Eventually, Mina made an excuse to split up, knowing she needed to be more social. But instead she decided to spend her time alone, walking through the dining room and pushing past crowds and sitting by herself on the staircase. There was a group of girls talking at the top of the stairs, but she ignored them. She'd much rather be alone right now.

She thought she'd get that luxury, at least, even if it was only for tonight—she deserved a little alone time, didn't she? Well clearly not in everyone else's eyes, because Jirou hadn't gotten the memo and winded up following her all the way over here, sitting next to her on the stairwell. Mina wanted to groan, but that would give the incentive that she was annoyed by her, and she didn't want to start a fight. All she wanted was some peace and quiet.

"I didn't know you were so good at breakdancing," she said, her eyes wandering to the ground. Her voice had flatlined, and Mina knew that wasn't what she was here for.

"Thanks! I'm glad you think so."

The room was overtaken with silence, and then Jirou finally cut to the chase, looking her right in the eye.

"Mina, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I know you've got a thing for him."

She wished she could've erased herself from existence. "Y-you mean Midoriya?" she asked, and if she had one of those fancy glasses of wine she could probably see herself flushing purple as all hell in the reflection.

Jirou nodded. "I'm not an idiot, Mina. I can see it in the way you look at him."

Mina looked off to the side and narrowed her eyes, pouting. "Nobody said you were one."

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing," she mumbled.

Jirou wasn't one to pry, nor did she ask any unnecessary questions. Mina liked that about her. She was careful about the way she worded things and only asked what was important, and sometimes that happened to also be the things Mina didn't like to think about. One of those questions was "does Uraraka know?" And for whatever reason, she couldn't get the words out. Maybe it was a combination of the alcohol and the emotional baggage and all of these pent-up feelings she had welled up inside of her, but she almost started to cry.

"I-I don't know what's wrong with me, Kyoka. I just… feel like crying all of a sudden," she admitted, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. And as she sat there, the tears threatening to fall, she seriously hoped no one would walk by.

It must've been then that Jirou realized the intensity of Mina's feelings. " _Oh,_ Mina… C'mere, your makeup's gonna smear."

Mina swallowed down whatever sense of pride she had left. She was very fond of her makeup and didn't want it to get ruined, so she scooched over and let Jirou glide her thumb under the few tears that'd already fallen, wiping them away carefully. It was hard to look her in the eye, but it was also impossible not to in the position they were in.

Jirou gave her a pep talk while also giving her the harsh truth. " _Ugh,_ you're getting all sappy on me with the gross love stories and shit. You're gonna be fine, okay? Whatever happens, happens. There are plenty of other fish in the sea."

"But I don't like any of the other fish!" Mina groaned, throwing herself against the back of the staircase. If this was a couch she'd have already sunken into it by now.

Jirou hesitated for a moment, and it wasn't until Mina was about to ask why that she came back into the conversation.

"I'd… actually hold onto your feelings if I were you."

Mina looked up at Jirou's backside, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why?"

"I know Midoriya might not see you that way, but he smiles around you a lot, Mina. I think you make him happy."

If her Quirk could burn a hole through her heart, it would've corroded it into a messy pile of goop by now. "Really?"

Jirou whipped her head around and smiled, her eyes saying everything she needed to know. "Yeah, really."

And with those bittersweet words, she decided: she wasn't going to let Izuku ruin the rest of this night. Her throat was getting dry and there was liquor was right around the corner, and if she drank some of that than maybe she'd stop worrying so much. Besides, getting drunk was the easiest way to let go of her feelings, and she'd even said it herself—she wanted them to go out with a bang, didn't she?

And so she grabbed the most expensive beer she could find in this place and drank until she was considerably drunk—stumbling and slurring her words, the whole nine yards. But that was when she threw in the towel, because in the back of her mind she knew better than that. She'd never make it back to the dorms if she was totally wasted, and she'd rather not be the reason they got caught sneaking out at two in the morning, especially when they probably would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for her.

She realized this feeling of euphoria she was experiencing had everything to do with her drunkenness. She was dizzy and disoriented, but somehow she was still on cloud nine, smiling foolishly at every stranger who passed by. And even though why she was so loopy was still a mystery to her, it must've had something to do with the magic of alcohol. Like most drunk people, she talked to anyone and everyone within a two-foot radius, and even though she'd taken the time to learn their names, she couldn't remember half of them if her life depended on it. They probably talked about liquor or something, since that was what everyone was drinking.

She acted reckless like this for well into the night, and it wasn't until a quarter till twelve when she was approached by Bakugo and his particularly nasty scowl that she finally talked to somebody she knew. He was almost as intoxicated as she was, probably, by the way he was slurring his words, but either way he came at her hard. "You're such a freakin' twat for inviting Deku, you know that, Racoon Eyes? You're gonna freakin' regret this when he calls the police or some shit!"

He was seething, and her drunken self thought it was funny. "Calm down a little, _Bakubro. Chill_ _out,_ will ya? You and I both know he's not that kinda guy!"

He crinkled the empty can of beer he was holding into dust, her nickname pushing him over the edge. "I don't care! He shouldn't be here!"

She pouted and narrowed her eyes until she could barely see two feet in front of her, trying to look as angry as possible. She probably looked more like a drama queen, though. "Well, too bad. I invited him, so you're just gonna have to deal with it."

He was so red in the face that she was sure he could've popped a vein, and upon watching him crush that can even further, she realized it was possible for dust to disintegrate into thin air. "I'm dealing with it just fine, you bastard! What do you take me for, some extra?"

She almost said yes, but she still had enough sober in her to know that was a bad idea. "Nope, just an idiot."

And that was an even worse idea. What the hell was she thinking?

But thank God he was drunk, because the toll the alcohol had taken on him meant he hadn't heard her. Instead of listening to what she had to say, he had his head in his hands, probably whining about same headache. She seized this opportunity to tease him. "This has got nothing to do with anything… But what d'ya think of Kirishima, Bakugo?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" he grumbled.

"Do ya, y'know, _like_ him?"

She giggled at his reaction, and the way he froze up on the spot gave away everything she needed to know. She didn't need his words, because the answer was standing right in front of her. Of course, she was too rambunctious and giggly to care or even notice for that matter, so she just kept on laughing.

Eventually, Bakugo broke her out of her laughing fit. "None of your business, Racoon Eyes. Can't you just leave me the hell alone?"

"So it's a yes, then. Yay!"

He didn't move a muscle, and although that might've been his attempt to hide it, it was also what confirmed her suspicions. If Mina was sober right now she'd probably pry an answer out of him, but since she wasn't his body language was enough.

Kirishima snuck up behind the two of them and tapped Bakugo's shoulder. "Hey, man, I got us some more drinks."

Bakugo sighed, composing himself, and he turned around to grab a beer out of Kirishima's hands. "Thanks," he mumbled, taking a slow first sip.

Maybe she was just hallucinating, losing her grip on reality after all the alcohol, but there was an atmosphere about them she'd never seen before. They were a lot closer than usual—friendlier, so to speak. She decided she'd back off a little and give them some time alone, but not before winking in Kirishima's direction. He was too drunk to notice the gesture, though, and she was honestly too far gone to realize he'd missed it anyway.

She was starting to regret drinking as much as she did. It wasn't that she felt sick—she felt fine, actually, better than ever. But it was almost midnight and she'd barely talked to any of her friends, and she wanted to see Izuku so badly right now because she was so done with all of these random strangers. Especially the men, who only wanted one thing. But even though she hated them, at the very same time she just couldn't turn down a conversation, because what could she say? She was a social person. So when she was approached by someone, a genuinely nice-looking guy, she was open to have a chat.

"Hey, uh, it's Ashido, right? I saw you breakdancing earlier; you were really cool."

Her smile could've lit up the room. "Oh, how cool did ya think I was?" she asked, and she was too busy studying his face and counting the number freckles he had to focus on what was coming out of her mouth.

"It was the coolest thing I've seen in awhile. You really looked like you knew what you were doing."

He went on to introduce himself. He said he had a Quirk that enhanced his flexibility and liked to dance because of it, but she was too far off in space to pay attention to what he was saying, staring pointlessly at his messy head of hair. It was wild and poofy like a lion's mane, and she wanted to touch it. Usually hair that curly would be soft, but maybe it would be spiky instead.

They talked like that for a while, and she lost track of time. Whatever was going on between them wasn't all that intriguing to her, but apparently she was the only one who felt that way.

Eventually, his eyes drifted off to the side and he and said, "Wanna head upstairs? It'll be a lot quieter up there."

She watched him drum his fingers against the kitchen countertop, and she tilted her head to the side. What was so great about the upstairs? "Y'know, that sounds nice and all, but I'm good. Anyway, isn't the party is down here?"

"C'mon, it's not that big of a deal. We can just chill out in one of the bedrooms, take a break from all the people."

What was he trying to do, lead her away? "Eh, I don't know. I'm not feelin' it, and all of my friends are gonna worry about me! I don't want them to worry," she replied. She probably pouted for the millionth time that night.

The stranger she'd once thought to be friendly took a step toward her, and Mina didn't realize what was happening until she felt somebody—somebody she knew she could trust—grab onto her hand. Rugged fingertips latched onto hers, and she could barely make out a flash of green pass by as whoever had saved her lead her away from the danger. She relaxed and stumbled along behind him, and she could rest easy knowing the one whose hand she was holding was Izuku.

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
**

 **A/N:** _A bit of a cliffhanger at the end, I know. I'm aware that you guys would probably prefer the story without Kiribaku, but seriously, just bear with me on this. You'll understand why next chapter. Despite saying that, I definitely think I overdid it with how often I implement them into the story, especially for what I have planned. I should've waited a few more chapters to introduce the pairing, and maybe just hinted at it instead of making it so obvious._

 _A few replies to some of the reviews on my last chapter:_

 _ **Pen Name Noyb:** I'm glad you feel that way, although many others don't. Thanks for letting me know your opinion!_

 _ **PoisonPen37:** My author's note might help explain part of the problem. I don't really like the way I wrote it either, to be honest, so you're not alone, I guess._

 _ **Sewrtyuiop:** I'm glad that you mentioned it was a good talking point for them, since that was what I was going for. Your reviews prove that a lot of my points got across!_

 _ **Jester-of-the-Plague:** Who knows what could happen? No, but honestly, it's kind of funny you say that, since you weren't that far off._

 _ **SailorSaigas:** I seriously thank you for leaving this review, because this is exactly what I needed. I'm glad that you complimented my work, since this is my first time writing anything novel-length. It was a little ambitious of me to post it on instead of Wattpad since a lot of writers here are older and have more experience, but hearing you say that makes me feel a lot better. About the Kiribaku thing, I wasn't trying to make it come across that way. The way I approached it was sloppy, but why I even included it in the story in the first place will be revealed soon. Again, thank you for your review!_

 _ **All Acid / Guest:** We'll see! I promise I won't leave you hanging forever, though._

 _ **Guest:** Well... it is fanfiction for a reason, so he is in this story._

 _And of course, although I didn't say anything, thank you to those who wrote that they liked my chapter!_


	10. Chapter 10 - A New Kind of Feeling

**A/N:** _I might not be able to upload chapters as quickly moving forward, as my schedule gets a lot busier in the spring, but with that being said, I'll try to find the time to write. I found I was pretty happy with how I moved the characters along in this chapter, but I'm not too fond of the writing itself. Thank you to those of you who left a review last chapter—I'm always glad to hear them! I hope you all enjoy this!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Without a clue as to the whereabouts of Mina Ashido, Izuku couldn't concentrate. It wasn't until she left him alone for the night that he realized this—how much of a source of comfort she'd become, a comrade. He couldn't just leave her alone like that, not when somebody could crawl out of the woodwork and whisk her away without a moment's notice. 

He would search for her until he knew she was safe. He looked everywhere—the living room, the dining area, the stairwell that lead to the second floor, even the closets and the dimly lit hallways. He was the only one in the room who was still sober (he'd managed to stay away from the alcohol despite the persuasions), and who knew what people could do when they were drunk, especially with a girl like her? He'd spent the last hour and a half trying to hold half decent conversations with strangers, and he felt guilty for not trying to find her then. 

Izuku finally caught sight of what was undoubtedly Mina, roaming around the kitchen, talking to a man he didn't know. Upon realizing his intentions, he couldn't stand to watch anymore. His instincts took over as he butted through the crowd and grabbed her hand, tightening his grip around her wrist to stop the man from making any type of altercation, and as he dragged her along behind him, not saying a word, he took her somewhere safe, away from the alcohol and the people and a perfectly foreseeable danger. He was careful not to display his anger, though, both at this stranger and at Mina for even talking to him. 

They slowed down once they reached a quiet corridor, the music softer and less bothersome. Despite this, Izuku couldn't relax, as when he let go of her hand and turned around, he realized she'd done what she'd promised not to and gotten drunk. She wouldn't shut up about what a great time she was having, her cheeks stained with a lilac so bright that it mirrored the actual flower, and the slur that accompanied her words was horribly obvious. 

"Ashido," he said, and he felt used, taken advantage of, "you said you wouldn't get drunk." 

She quieted down a little, staring at him with perplexingly bright eyes. She was far too intoxicated to understand the context of the situation. When she gave no answer, he answered for her. "You promised you wouldn't." 

"You take everything _way_ too seriously, Midori. It's a party! Have some fun with it, will ya?" she giggled, and still, she wouldn't stop smiling, spinning gracefully on her heels as she took a broad look at her surroundings. 

He didn't let her influence him, though. He was staying level-headed. "And… You said it wouldn't be crowded, but i-it is. There are over a hundred people here." 

"Well, how else was I supposed to get ya to come?" 

"You don't understand, Ashido." He was silent for a second, both of them were, and then: "That man was trying to take advantage of you, you know. You could've gotten hurt, o-or worse! You can't even figure out what I'm trying to say to you right now, about how you _lied_ to me, and instead you wanna play it off like it's no big deal. Well it _is_ a big deal, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't get to you when I did." 

She got the gist of what he was saying, her smile fading away into nothing but a frown. His words were finally hitting home. "I-I'm sorry, Midori. I just didn't know how else to make you come…" 

"Why'd I even have to come in the first place?" 

Mina froze, biting her bottom lip, and even though it was painful she didn't stop until it bled. She was only emotional because of the liquor. Yes, that was it. It had nothing to do with him or the sour taste he left in her mouth, and it wasn't his fault that she was about to cry. "I just wanted to have a fun night out with you, okay? Is that really so bad?" 

When another bout of silence made its way around the room, she smiled to herself, the tears washing away as the entirety of what he'd said came into mind. "But… Even though you're mad, that's okay. I'm just glad you were worried about me." 

Somewhere inside of him there was a twitch. It was strangely refreshing, feeling that way, and for whatever reason he couldn't stay mad at her anymore. "H-how could I not be? In a place like this, anything could happen." 

She wanted to go over there and wrap her arms around him, but even her drunken self knew not to do that. "Here, how about I make it up to you tomorrow or something? I'll buy you food 'n stuff as an apology." 

"I'm not letting you do that, Ashido. It's irreversible. Just… Don't go off alone again, okay? At least for the rest of the night." 

That was the least she could do for him. The only thing she could do. Maybe he'd get a clear answer out of her tomorrow about why she told such a lie, but it was good to just drop it for now, especially when she was so drunk. 

Besides, he was so overcome with the need to keep her safe that nothing else really mattered anymore. It surprised him, really; he was so quick to run in and intervene in the middle of a dangerous situation and grab her hand, like it was second nature and he didn't even have to think about it. He wasn't sure if it was just because they were friends, or if there was a separate, more important reason. 

Mina smiled, bringing him back to reality. "Okay, but I can handle myself, y'know!" 

Knowing very well that that was yet another lie, Izuku sighed under his breath, but he simply smiled at her and moved on. He didn't say anything else as the two of them walked back out into the open together, Mina trailing idly behind him, and he realized she was humming a tune that brought him deja vu. It was the song that had been playing when they'd danced together; he could remember it clearly, as it was really only a few hours ago. 

Mina couldn't walk normally for some reason; she could only skip, and even though she found it impossible to stand up straight, she couldn't have cared less. In fact, she hadn't felt so carefree in a while. She was having fun with this—this moment she was having with Izuku—because she'd surely never get another one for a long, long time. 

She glanced to her side and saw the man who'd almost went off with her in the corner of her eye. He wasn't as nice-looking as she once thought now that she got a clearer view of him. She decided she should stop making dumb decisions when she was drunk. 

And it was _because_ she was drunk that she almost paid no mind when she saw Kirishima and Bakugo heading upstairs, eyeing each other as they stumbled up the staircase. She wanted to ask where they were going, but her head was starting to hurt, and a sudden wave of pain came over her before she could do so. If that wasn't a sign for her to drop it, she didn't know what was. 

She and Izuku wandered around the house to pass the time, when eventually they bumped into Kaminari. They quickly figured out through his mannerisms and speech patterns that he was considerably drunk, too far gone for even Mina to understand, and so they left him alone. They meandered the hallways for a little while longer before Mina decided she needed a break. 

"I'm tired, and I kinda wanna go upstairs," she yawned, groaning softly beside him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her, leading him toward the staircase. 

"Um, Ashido, I don't know if that's such a good idea..." he mumbled, his eyes darting across the room. He was dense, but he wasn't that dense, and he had a general understanding of what went on on the second floor. 

Despite this, she couldn't connect the dots, so instead she simply ignored him and climbed the first step, leaning against the railing for support. Once she steadied herself, her eyes dawdled to the floor above her. 

And that was when she froze. 

He didn't notice it at first. At least not until it was too late. He glanced at whatever had her so dumbstruck, and then, quickly, he turned back around to face her, his face going a fiery, crimson red. She wouldn't look away. Her brain must have been too slow to process what she was seeing. 

His was fully capable of piecing it together, though. There was no doubt in his mind that that was Kirishima and Bakugo, standing there at the top of the staircase, _kissing_. Bakugo had the redhead pinned to a wall, kissing him sloppily, passionately, just like how a drunk kiss was supposed to be. 

Izuku knew he shouldn't be seeing this. He shouldn't have even been here in the first place, and if Bakugo _ever_ caught wind of the fact that he was, he'd be killed in an instant. So he grabbed Mina's hand and dragged her back down the stairwell, trying his damnedest to keep quiet as he hauled her around the corner. 

"Midori, what're we—" 

He was expecting for her to talk when she was wasn't supposed to; she was drunk, after all. He covered her mouth with one hand until he knew they were safe, and when he could confirm that they were, he pulled it away, letting out a big, defeated sigh. 

And then he looked over at her to see how she was feeling, and suddenly he couldn't look away. 

The smell of beer rolled off of her tongue as she breathed, her cheeks such a deep, dangerous purple that it was as if they were going to scar that way. Their eyes met for a second, just a second, but that was all it took for his cheeks to burn in conformity to hers, ingraining themselves in a scarlet red. 

He was confused with himself, with his feelings. That heartbeat—where had it come from? It was soft, almost unnoticeable, but he still had to wonder. And… Wasn't Uraraka supposed to be the one who made him feel this way? 

He heard a suggestive whistle from a group of passersby, and he fell out of his trance. They were out in the open, he realized, and he turned away from her, finally collecting himself. That was twice tonight she'd left him speechless. Strange. 

The warmth in his cheeks had lingered, and he felt the need to apologize. "S-sorry, Ashido! I-I didn't realize you were right there, I—" 

She put a finger to his lips, smiling. "'S okay, Midori. Don't worry about it, 'kay?" 

He nodded silently, and then he decided to change the subject, bring up something more important. "B-but, um, about what we just saw, you can't say anything about it. Kacchan would kill me if he realized I knew." 

She giggled. "Of course I wouldn't. I'm not like that. But you gotta admit it's pretty interesting that they're still up there right now, _if_ ya know what I mean." 

"A-Ashido! What are you saying?" 

"Exactly what it sounds like." 

He flushed, stuttering incomprehensibly, and then, remembering what he'd been trying to say earlier, he closed his eyes and put his hands together in a prayer. "B-but, uh, seriously this time, please don't say anything! To anyone!" 

"Yeah, yeah, I promise I won't," she replied, rolling her eyes. 

Although she promised, Izuku wouldn't let her out of his sights. Who knew where she'd go off to, what she'd say. He couldn't afford to risk Bakugo knowing, and since she was drunk, the chances of her telling somebody were ten times higher than usual. 

But seriously, who knew Bakugo and Kirishima were a thing? And did this mean Bakugo was into guys? Questions he would probably never get the answers to, but it wasn't his place to ask in the first place. Maybe he could ask Mina when she was sober. She'd know. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, wanting to know the time. It was approaching one now, and he could barely stand on two legs due to tiredness. All he wanted to do was collapse onto his bed and into his pillow and off to sleep he would go. 

But still, he did not bother Mina. She was having too much fun. He'd feel bad if he interrupted, so he simply gave into the pressure and went along with it, trying to find a way to have as much fun as she was. He never did, though, and he'd rather just stay quiet about it then tell her and ruin the rest of her night. 

Thankfully for him, even she had a limit on how long she could last. She ran out of steam by the time the clock hit one, and now that she'd used up all of her energy, she couldn't stand up straight anymore, toppling toward Izuku and leaning against his shoulder. 

He felt her nestle against him, a billow of pink burying into the side of his shirt, and he smiled to himself despite the many reasons not to, standing her upright again. She would stir whenever he did this, eyelids fluttering open slightly, but then she'd realize she preferred his intimacy over everything else and rest her head back in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes as she relished in what would surely be a once in a lifetime moment. Although he didn't mind the extra company, he didn't want any misconceptions, so when she would do this for too long he would push her away as gently as possible. Besides, if that was what it took to ensure that she didn't tell anyone about what they saw earlier, then so be it. 

Eventually it was time for the guests to leave, and with the music gone and the alcohol put away, people started to file out. Bakugo and Kirishima had come downstairs already, jackets in hand, and the seven of them who'd come from U.A. premises met up in the living room. They needed to get out of here, and fast, unless they wanted to endure one hell of a punishment. 

Izuku could feel the tension hanging between Kirishima and his… friend? Boyfriend, perhaps? Friend with benefits? How was he supposed to know? Either way, Mina was letting on far too many clues for his comfort, and he kept having to look over at her to make her shut up. 

Luckily for him, nobody else in the group seemed to notice this. Sero especially, as he turned toward them all and gestured toward the door without a second thought. "We should head out, you guys," he said, and it was obvious he was the one who was still sober. Besides Izuku and Jirou, of course, who had both decided not to drink, but for two very different reasons. Izuku was simply scared of the consequences while Jirou knew that since nobody else would, she'd have to be the one to take charge when the time came, and that time was now. 

"Okay, but how the hell are we supposed to leave if you're all drunk?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt. She was quite fond of stating the obvious. 

Kaminari tried to stagger her way, but he ended up trailing off in the wrong direction. "We're a lil' tipsy, Jirou. Nothin' to worry about. It's not like we're wasted." 

She rolled her eyes at that, knowing very well that they were _not_ just a little bit tipsy, and Bakugo scoffed at her. "What do you think, we can't walk on our own or somethin'? We'll be fine, whether you like it or not," he said, surprisingly less angry than usual. Still, nobody disagreed with him in fear that that might change. 

They were about to walk out the door when Mina got them to stop, the sound of her whining filling the air. "Can somebody carry me? _Please?_ My legs are killing me, and I don't know if I can make it back to the dorms." 

Jirou looked at her like she had four heads. "Who's gonna do that?" 

"Midori will! Right, Midori? You'll carry me home, won't you?" 

Izuku was taken by surprise, trying to sustain a pale complexion instead of a red one. He hadn't agreed to anything yet, and carrying her on his back would add a lot of unnecessary stress to an already lengthy trip to the train station. "I-I don't know… Does it have to be me?" 

"Yes! It has to be you! You're the only one who can. So, please?" 

She collapsed into his shoulder again, groaning and shaking her head, and he nudged her away in order to add a little more space between them. He would admit that he found her annoying sometimes, but it wasn't the bad kind of annoying. More like the kind that was fun to be around. And as he glanced at the people he was surrounded by, he realized he may have been the only one who thought that. But it didn't really matter to him. They could think whatever they wanted to. 

"Did she just call you Midori?" 

Jirou had mentioned the nickname. It was their first time hearing it, after all, so somebody was bound to say something eventually. "Y-yeah. She calls me that a lot." 

Growing from the corners of her lips was a smirk, and maybe he was just seeing things, but it looked like she was onto something. "I can tell." 

Mina tugged lightly at the hem of his shirt, the sensation of somebody else's skin forcing him to snap out of his fog. His cheeks were warm to the touch, and he hadn't even realized it until now. He hadn't been realizing a lot of things lately. 

To let him know that she was waiting for a reply, she groaned, and he finally gathered the courage to give one to her. "Okay. I-I guess I can. How do you want to do this? A piggyback?" 

She nodded. She felt bad for making him go through with this, but he needed to understand that she didn't have a choice. It wasn't the fact that her legs were hurting—of course not, that was merely just an excuse. That was a part of it, obviously, but she would be lying if she said she didn't just yearn for the chance to touch him and be close to him, feel her body up against his. Things she'd probably never get the chance to do if she left it up to fate. 

Izuku wouldn't tell somebody if his life depended on it, but he was nervous. He'd never had a girl so close to him before, and the fact that it was Mina made it a thousand times more nerve-racking, strangely enough. Nevertheless, he drew in a subtle, shaky breath before bending down and letting her to climb onto his back, his breath hitching in the back of his throat as he felt her weight shift slightly against him. There was a moment of silence before they said goodbye to the rest of the partygoers, and Mina was extra careful not to hold onto him too tightly. She'd already bothered him enough for one night, and she didn't want to give him another reason to be mad at her. Sero said goodbye to his brother by giving him a fist bump, and then they headed out the door and toward the station. 

"I'm sorry for being such a bother to you," Mina whispered, her lips grazing the nape of his neck. She shifted over a little until she was talking in his ear. 

With the newfound closeness between them, Izuku couldn't think straight, and it took him a second to realize that the thumping against the front of his chest was his heart. It was barely noticeable, but he'd have to be stupid to not realize it was there. "I've been following you around all night, and now this? You can put me down if ya want to. I'm probably heavy anyway." 

"Y-you're not heavy." 

"You stuttered." 

He gasped. "I-I didn't mean it like that! Really, you're not! And… You're not a bother, either." 

He was being sincere. She realized that, and it made her smile. 

"I'm glad you think so. Thank you, Midori. For everything." 

She could feel his warmth and his fondness and the softness of his hair as she embraced him further, like he was her boyfriend. She wished. Oh, God, how she wished. 

Little did she knew, her words had left him a mumbling mess. His heart was pounding ten times faster than before, and he had to wonder, why did he feel so warm and fuzzy inside? Was he imagining things? Because it was like nothing he'd ever felt before, tingly and tender and heavy on the heart. And to add on to his already lengthy list of problems, he couldn't help but notice that as she laid against him, she was quite well-endowed in certain… assets. 

_She's your friend, Izuku. You can't think about her_ _like that!_

He sighed, shaking his head as he hitched his hands under her thighs and hoisted her up again. He decided it would be best to stop thinking so hard and just listen to her talk. 

He forgot he hadn't said anything after hearing her kind words. "O-oh, I really don't think I deserve that much credit," he replied, glancing back at her over his shoulder. 

"Yes, you do." 

"Hey, Ashido?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Are Bakugo and Kirishima together?" 

She grunted, rustling uncomfortably against the small of his back. She was starting to feel ill, the signs of a hangover kicking in. The only sounds that mattered to her were those of the crickets and Izuku's footsteps against the sidewalk, and everything else was tossed aside as white noise. 

She found it in her to answer him. "Maybe now they are, especially after what they did tonight." 

He hated to ask this, but he was curious. "D-do you think they…" 

"Oh, no way. Kirishima would never. But who am I to judge? We're all kinda drunk, after all. Except for you, Midori, 'cause you'd never get drunk." 

He laughed one of those awkward kinds of laughs, the kind that was only supposed to alleviate the tension, but he realized she brought up a good point: how would they explain their hangovers to the rest of the class? And in the off chance that they found out, how would they explain them to the teachers? Hopefully they wouldn't have to with how careful they were being, but the thought of it alone still sent shivers up his spine. He'd hate it if they already knew and were just waiting patiently at the entrance of the U.A. dorms, where they'd give him and his friends the punishment of a lifetime when they returned. Izuku didn't even consider that a viability until now, but he couldn't deny that there was always that chance. 

And then there was the fact that they were out so late, which Izuku wouldn't have expected in a million years. And he wasn't joking when he said that. Mina had told him nothing, next to _nothing,_ and if he knew it would've been 2:00 a.m. when he left the house he probably wouldn't have went. 

He considered dropping her here and making her walk the rest of the way, but that wasn't in his nature. He couldn't do that to her at a time like this, not when she was so vulnerable. Besides, they were only minutes away from the train station, and he could put her down when they got there. 

The train ride was as uneventful as he thought it would be. They stepped off the platform as soon as they got on, and he could barely sit down because his legs were still sore from carrying Mina. Speaking of Mina, she squished herself in the seat between him and Kirishima, and he kept a watchful eye on her. There was no telling what she'd do with the redhead so close, Bakugo leaning against his shoulder. They were _asking_ to be picked on. 

She kept smiling at them, and Izuku had to pull her away. Kirishima raised a few eyebrows, but she didn't even acknowledge it, nor did she pay him any mind. Eventually she grew tired of all the fruitless teasing and leaned to her side, Izuku's side, and rested her head comfortably in the crook of his neck, and he let her stay like that for the rest of the ride. 

"Can you piggyback me again, Midori?" she asked when they got off the train. "Please? I promise this will be the last time." 

"B-but, Ashido, the dorms are right around the corner," he replied, and he was about to say something else when he felt a hand on his shoulder, one that belonged to Jirou. 

"Look at her, Midoriya," she said, giving him a half-hearted smile. "Can't you just make an exception this one time? She promised she'd never do it again." 

He thought about it. She wasn't a burden on anything, really, except for his back, and in all honesty, he enjoyed her company more than anyone else's. Or… at least more than a lot of people's, because there was still Uraraka. 

But even when taking her into consideration, he would still argue that he enjoyed Mina's company the most. 

Was he supposed to feel that way? 

He nearly laughed at himself out loud. It wasn't like there were any rules he had to follow. What was he thinking? He cleared his head and smiled at his pink-haired friend. "Okay," he said, nodding, and he let her hop onto his back again. 

She hugged him a little more tightly than before, savoring the moment while it still lasted, and a few stray pebbles filled the empty, middle-of-the-night silence as they crumbled beneath his feet where he walked. She knew that if he put her down now she might not remember this in the morning, and that was exactly why she prayed for him to never let her go. She didn't think he would, not without warning her first, but that fear was still rooted within her, and she held onto him like she was taking her last breath. 

Glancing up at the sky to take her mind off things, she realized the view was actually quite fascinating. "The stars are pretty tonight, don'tcha think?" 

He titled his head up at the sky, constellations catching his eye. It was as if they had a little sliver of the universe all to themselves. "Yeah, they are." 

"Ya see that constellation up there?" She pointed over his shoulder at a little cluster of stars near the horizon. "It's really somethin', isn't it? Beautiful." 

"Really? What does it remind you of?" 

"It reminds me of you." 

He felt it—the warmth, the blood, all of it rushing to his cheeks. That could've meant a lot of things, and to be honest, he was a little afraid to ask. "W-what do you mean?" 

"Well, for starters, it's kinda just hidin' behind the—what's that called? The horizon line? Yeah, it's kinda just hiding behind that… thing, or whatever, and nobody notices how beautiful it is or that it's even there in the first place. But what they don't know is that it shines brighter than any other star in the sky." 

"So you're saying I'm beautiful?" he joked. 

She laughed. "Of course not, silly! Although I wouldn't put it against you…" 

"What was that?" 

"Nothing! I-I was just saying that you've got somethin' really special about ya, Midori." 

His cheeks were burning just as badly as they were before. In fact, the burning had only gotten worse. "O-oh. Thanks for the compliment, I guess?" 

She rested her head between his shoulder blades where her hands once were, and she realized how thankful she was for his incredible strength. She smiled to herself, happy he could hold her up for this long. "Yeah."

"Ugh, _finally_ we can see the dorms from here," Kaminari groaned, drawing Mina's attention away from a certain somebody and back onto less important things. From the looks of it—pale face and green skin—he was on the verge of throwing up, but the fear of embarrassment was forcing him to swallow it back down. 

"I'm gonna put you down now, okay, Ashido?" 

She looked down curiously at the boy beneath her, whose voice was now more familiar than anything she'd ever thought possible. And that was precisely why his words hurt so much to hear—because she knew there was no way of working around them. He was no Superman, nor was he one of his descendants, and she knew that it would be impractical for him to carry her around all night. She'd just have to ingrain this memory into her head for the time being so that she could remember it in the morning. 

He let her down gently, like a shard of broken glass, leaving the two of them to meander along next to each other. The feeling of his back still lingered against her torso, and she wished the feeling would never go away. But, like most things, it did, and they walked the rest of the way to the dorms in relative silence. 

Izuku thought they were in the clear. He really did, and he had reason to believe so—the lack of adult supervision, the fact that there wasn't anyone waiting for them outside, no one hiding in the bushes or behind the dorm buildings. So when he opened the door to the dorms and was met face to face with a figure, he nearly had a heart attack and a panic attack all at the same time. And he almost had an even bigger combination of the two when he realized who the figure belonged to, and he and the rest of his classmates who'd been out _way_ past curfew knew they couldn't be any further from in the clear. 

A stern voice emerged from the darkness, revealing itself to be none other than that of their homeroom teacher. "Do you all have _any_ idea what time it is?"


	11. Chapter 11 - The Aftermath

**A/N:** _First of all, I'd like to apologize for how late this is. I'm starting high school next year and stress started to pile up on me, and long story short, I ended up having a really rough few weeks and put the writing down for a while. But I've picked it back up again, so that's good! I'm definitely still set on finishing this story, but it's going to be a bit longer than I expected—this is only about the halfway point, and things are gonna start getting good from here (think the next few chapters). But anyway, just enjoy this for what it is, and I'm sorry to say that next chapter might be late as well (and when I say might, I mean probably), but I'll try my_ best!

 **\- o - o - o - o -** **  
**

Nobody said a word.

Seven students, all of them crammed into one worn and rickety boat, quite possibly about to erase themselves from existence and sink to the bottom of the ocean. Frozen under the looming silhouette of their homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa, they did not move a muscle, nor did they even blink.

Instead they simply stood there, in shock and in regret, because they knew—everyone in that room knew, even Aizawa himself—how absolutely and undeniably _fucked_ they were.

The silence was unbearable. It was grueling and hard to endure, and it didn't disappear until Mr. Aizawa's voice once again rose from the shadows. "Tomorrow morning. Here. I will pull you aside and give you your punishment. And it will be _big_."

Everyone nodded, eyes bolted wide. Izuku swore he heard Mr. Aizawa mumble something under his breath as he walked away, something along the lines of, "And if it weren't for them I'd be asleep right now."

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Mina woke up the next morning in a fog. She decided to stay bed when she realized how hungover she was, and she knew it was going to be a long day when she tried to sit up and couldn't because her head was pounding so hard. She sighed as she laid back down, sunlight pouring in from the curtains, very conscious of the fact that noon was approaching and she hadn't even gotten up to get dressed. But her whole body ached, and she was too busy trying to remember the shitshow that was last night to care.

She could remember most of what happened if she thought hard enough, but there were bits and pieces she felt she was missing. Judging by what her gut was telling her, she was forgetting some things.

Yet, no matter what, she could remember the moments with Izuku so vividly—keeping her out of harm's way, carrying her all the way home—just two of the many things she'd never forget. She wanted to swoon, but she was scared of what that'd do to her already aching stomach.

She could also remember blindly stumbling in on Kirishima and Bakugo's kiss, and she wondered how things turned out between them. She would've asked if she got the chance, but it wasn't a good enough reason to get out of bed.

Eventually the time hit her like a slap across the face. People would be wondering where she was! She tossed the blankets aside and stumbled out of bed and stumbled to get dressed and get down the stairs, hair sticking up in all different directions as she'd forgotten to brush it. A few heads turned to acknowledge her as she entered the common area, but most didn't bat an eye.

Needing someone to talk to, she snaked her way over to Jirou. "Has Mr. Aizawa said anything?" she asked, voice toned down to a whisper.

"Not yet. I think he's waiting for Kaminari. How's your hangover?"

"It's tolerable, I guess, but—ugh—my head is _killing_ me! This is the last time I'm drinking. _Ever_."

Jirou furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know if I believe that, but okay. It isn't my business anyway."

When Kaminari finally came downstairs, the class could've sworn he was on his deathbed. And Mina couldn't blame them, either, because his eyes were all red and puffy and his face was literally _green_ , like he'd contracted some kind of weird disease. But she couldn't find it in herself to make fun of him, because upon his arrival Mr. Aizawa called them over for their dreaded talk, and that was a top priority in her eyes. In everyone's eyes, she assumed. And although most of their classmates were busy with training or homework or something or other and probably didn't even notice, it only took one with a particularly good eye to start something. A rumor. A nasty one. And chances were that it would be true.

"I'm disappointed."

A similar silence to the one from last night snaked its way into the room. There was no need for words; they knew good and well what they had coming for them.

"Find some other way to enjoy yourselves, all of you. Parties are never an option, _especially_ not at this school. And look at you—you're all too hungover to even understand what I'm saying. What a disgrace." There was a pause as Aizawa took a sharp inhale, turning toward two of his star students. "Midoriya. Bakugo. I expected more from you two, as you've both been on house arrest once before. And you are all lucky I'm not giving you a bigger punishment, but if I hear _any_ complaints—at all—you can say goodbye to your plans for the dance. Got it?"

They did get it, all of them. Their nods were robotic, lifting and lowering their heads at their homeroom teacher to let him know he'd gotten the point across. Mina's heart sunk when she saw Kaminari raise his hand. She was pretty sure everyone's did.

Mr. Aizawa turned to him blankly. "What is it now?"

"How long will we be on house arrest?"

"I was getting there," he replied through gritted teeth. "Give me a minute, will you? Anyway, from today onward, I'll be giving you a list of chores you have to complete. They will be done day by day, but as long as you have them all completed by the end of next Sunday there will be nothing to worry about. So, to answer your question, you will be on house arrest for one week. But failure to complete everything on the list will result in an extension on your time."

That was the end of the conversation. No questions asked. Silently, Aizawa handed them their papers, displaying far too many chores to get done in a single day's work. But his threats rang true in their minds, and they knew they'd have finish them in one way or another.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Monday marked their first full day on house arrest. Sunday afternoon was merely a test run, a not-so extensive list of chores that prepared them for what was to come, but the moment they got Monday's list they knew what they were really in for. And it involved a _lot_ more than just a few loads of laundry.

"These weeds," Jirou heaved, trying hard to pull one of the aforementioned, infestive little plants from its rightful place in the ground, "are freaking stubborn."

"I know, right?" Mina nodded, trying another one next to where Jirou was, but just like the others, it wouldn't budge. This was their task for the day—to parse the garden back to its purest form, which had been getting increasingly more tangled lately—and this must've been the fiftieth unsuccessful shrub she'd tried. "It's like they're trying to make out with the ground or something."

Jirou stifled a giggle at that, much to Mina's amusement, but she wasn't all that amused anymore when she realized her usually hard-working friend had stopped working on the task at hand. Instead, she was looking up at her. "Mina, I feel bad for egging you on."

She let her focus go awry, losing her grip on the weeds she'd once kept such a close eye on. She looked up at Jirou. "What do you mean?"

"Saturday night. The party. Don't you remember?"

"Of course I do. I remember most of it, at least."

"Okay, then you remember all the snarky comments I made about you and Midoriya."

Mina furrowed her eyebrows, as she thought she and Jirou were on the same page about that. "But I thought you didn't mind me and Midoriya."

With no real reason or will at all, she began to pick at the underbrush again, fingers lacing around the leaves nervously. "I don't! But he's, y'know, kinda with someone already. And she's also my friend, too."

"So, what? Does that make her feelings more important than mine? Is that the problem?"

"Ugh, Mina, that was a stupid question and you know it. It just feels wrong to egg the two of you on when he's already with someone, if that makes any sense."

Mina told herself to take deep breaths, that now not the time to get angry. Putting her trust in Jirou was hard enough as it was, but she only made it harder when she continuously went back and forth like this. Couldn't she just pick something and stick with it and stop being so indecisive? "Then why? Do my feelings not matter at all?"

Jirou shrugged, giving her a what-do-you-expect me-to-say kind of look. "Of course they matter, you idiot," she laughed. "But so do Ochako's. And you need to think about that before you start getting ahead of yourself."

Mina let out the breath she'd been holding as an apology. "I really need to figure things out on my own, Kyoka. Like, all of these feelings are building up inside of me, and I have nowhere to put them. You know what I mean?"

Finally, for the first time in the last two days, Jirou found it within herself to let out a real, genuine laugh. "Not really, but whatever floats your boat, Mina. I'm just glad you're not hungover anymore, because it was literal torture to hear you complain about _the_ dumbest shit yesterday."

"Oh, God, me too. I'd rather die than do that again." She checked to see how much dirt she had stuck in her nails before going back to weed picking. "Hey, I… didn't say anything weird at that party, did I? Nothing to Midoriya at least, right? I think I would remember if I did, but I just wanna make sure."

"Trust me, you didn't. At least from what I could tell. But you two were talking _pretty_ quietly on the way home, so for all I know I could've missed something. Have you talked to him since then?"

Mina shook her head. "No. He hasn't come up to me yet."

Jirou looked at her, skeptical. "Well, you might wanna get on that soon."

"Why? Did he say something?" she asked, and miraculously, she was able to rip through the roots of an old weed she'd been working on for a while now. She tightened her grip around the stem, wanting to take Jirou's advice, but she wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea. Izuku could've been feeling a number of different things right now, some of which were negative, and by ignoring her he'd already dropped a pretty big hint that maybe her intuitions were right.

But then again, he could've just been having one of his Izuku moments where he got all shy all of a sudden, which would explain why he was so quiet around her. He could be a total mystery sometimes.

She smiled to herself, thinking of all the inexplicable things he'd done, and then, regaining her composure, she returned to the task at hand.

Jirou scooched over a little and whispered, "Midoriya's a sensitive guy, Mina. If he was mad at you while you were drunk, he's probably even more mad now."

She made a face of disgust. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything to Jirou, because it was starting to nip her in the butt. "Well thanks, Kyoka! Now I'm even _more_ scared to talk to him!"

"Who are you scared to talk to?"

Mina recognized that voice. It definitely reminded her of someone, but who did she know who had a voice like that? Izuku? Izuku! It had to have been Izuku.

Holy crap, she had to get her shit together, because it was Izuku!

"Nobody! Nobody at all!" she exclaimed, whipping around to face him. "What're you doing here, Midoriya?"

"Taking out the trash. What about you?"

"Just—"she shrugged, looking back at the bushes and then back to him"—getting rid of the weeds! They're, uh, stubborn, aren't they?"

He nodded, and even if he was a little confused, he was just glad she'd stopped her rambling. She wasn't making any sense in the first place, and quite frankly, he'd stopped trying to understand her a long time ago. His grip around the garbage bag that'd once been hanging loosely in his hand began to grow tighter. "I-I'm sorry if you're busy, but can I talk to you for a sec, Ashido?"

"Uh, sure?" She glanced over her shoulder at Jirou, who was keeping a comfortingly close eye on her, and with the reassurance of a friend, she shrugged, following Izuku around the back of the building.

Her attempts at slowing him down were getting nowhere. Eventually she gave in to the inevitable and let him lead her, and once it was so quiet she could hear a pin drop, she asked, "What's going on, Midori?"

He stopped, turning around so they were standing face to face. "You… haven't said anything, have you?"

"About what?"

"About… y'know… what we saw. K-Kirishima and Bakugo."

She looked at him sideways. Couldn't he trust her a little more than that? "You know I'd never do that to you, Midori. I mean, c'mon! I'm your friend! Well, Kirishima's my friend too, but—y'know."

"And… You swear you're not lying?"

She gave him a look. "Midoriya, _come on_. You know I'm not like that."

He sighed. "Well, no, I don't. It's just… Y-you can be kinda unpredictable, Ashido. You lied about a lot this weekend. With the party and the people who would be there, and even the drinks!"

She dug her nails into the sides of her sleeves, knowing good and well that if he tried hard enough, he could read her like a book. But she didn't really care at this point, because this was one of the things she could remember so vividly. She'd been here before, just a few nights ago, having the exact same conversation with the exact same atmosphere and the exact same everything, and even their choice of words was similar, just slightly more jarring now that she was sober enough to process it. Somehow everything he said was magically ten times worse, which might've had something to do with the fact that she wasn't intoxicated.

"So that's why you haven't been talking to me lately? You're still mad about the stupid party thing?"

"Well it _is_ kinda the reason I'm on house arrest now."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come."

He looked at her funny. "If only you'd warned me, Ashido. But you didn't. You lied to me instead, because—why? I-I don't even know. Why'd you lie to me, Ashido?"

Silence—the unbearable kind. Something she'd usually consider a blessing, but now, as it stood today, it was nothing more than a curse.

The need for a distraction grew to be too much for her, and she started to finnick with whatever was closest. Grasping the bottoms of her sleeves, she sighed, as she wasn't used to being put under such an intense and intimidating limelight. Nevermind that—she wasn't used to quarrels in general, with anyone, really, and especially not with her friends. It made her feel ill for some reason, knowing that Izuku harbored an underlying hatred toward her, and maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was in love with him. Of course it did. When was that ever not the case?

She found it within herself to retaliate. "I thought we already talked about this, Midoriya. If I didn't lie you wouldn't have come, and if you didn't come I… I would've been sad. And alone. I would've been alone."

He was more than a little confused. "Y-you have Kirishima and Kaminari and all of your other friends, and you get to hang out with them all the time. But somehow you're still alone?"

She threw her hands in the air in some kind of wild gesture and didn't hesitate to say, "You know what, Midoriya? Nevermind—forget what I said, because you clearly can't figure it out yourself. I mean, _God_ , it's like you don't understand me at all."

Izuku, who'd actually been silent for a while now, remained that way, at a complete loss for words. He decided that at a time like this it was best to let the silence speak for itself, because she was right: he _didn't_ understand her, and he probably never would. She contradicted him in every which way possible. Sometimes he imagined they were born to be on opposites, because some of the things she did he never even would've considered doing in a million years. She was, in his eyes, an enigma.

But even though their differences were what lead them to where they were now, he hated it. He absolutely _hated_ fighting with her.

He would've died for a little relief, or at least a cutback on the tension. And so, hoping for exactly that, he said, "I don't think I do, Ashido. U-understand you, I mean."

"Huh?"

"It's just that we're so… different, I guess? Don't get me wrong, we're good friends, but we've got nothing in common. I wouldn't have even considered going to a party unless you dragged me into it."

A smile crept its way onto Mina's face, and even though she wished she didn't have to admit it, she agreed with him. He was analytical like that, admitting the obvious. She knew his words to be true, she'd known for a long time, but she wasn't sure if she should've taken it seriously or not because being that way could've been both a good and a bad thing. "Yeah, I know what you mean. As if I couldn't tell already," she teased. " _But_ , that's not an excuse for me to drag you into something miserable, even if I think you'll enjoy it. You're not the one at fault, Midoriya, so don't worry about it, 'kay? It was all me."

"Well, I mean, I didn't _have_ to come, did I?"

"'Course you did. It wouldn't have been the same without you."

There was a moment in time when Izuku didn't know what to say. His stomach felt fluttery all of a sudden, knotting his insides from the inside out, and he was taken by surprise at how prevalent it was, like being being punched in the gut but in a good way. He was left with no other choice but to stop and stare as she smiled, bright and bold and beaming with liveliness, especially the way her eyes seemed to glow in the early morning light. It was a refreshing yet familiar feeling, and he wished it would've lasted longer than it did.

He was a little conflicted, though, because he still had to hide the fact that his cheeks were burning, and he thought he was having a hot flash.

But if he had to be totally honest, he would say he didn't hate the feeling.

He realized he was going to sutter again if he tried to talk. "O-oh, I didn't know—"

Eyeing him up and down reluctantly, she shushed him. "I know you were carrying me home for awhile, and I was kinda in my comfort zone so I don't really remember much, but you would tell me if I said something weird, wouldn't you?"

"You didn't. Y-you said a lot of nice things, actually. And funny ones, too," he professed, and now that she had the reassurance she needed, she could say with confidence that she absolutely _loved_ his smile. She swore he was going to be the death of her if things didn't hit a turnaround soon.

Izuku got all quiet again. She thought he might've hit another roadblock in his speech or forgotten what he was going to say, but the atmosphere that hung in the air said otherwise.

She thought that maybe, just maybe (although it couldn't very easily just been her mind playing tricks on her), the heavy atmosphere she was just now starting to notice was something along the lines of awkward tension. She'd been noticing it for a while, actually, but now that there was a break in the conversation she was finally able to address it.

But upon giving it that second thought, she realized it could've just been Izuku being Izuku, and she ignored her intuitions and continued on as if nothing had happened. "You say that, but I probably just said something stupid and creeped out a bunch of strangers," she said to no one in particular. "Ooh, and I bet I egged some people on! Like, I must've seen some stranger dancing around some girl he liked, and then I got the two of them together. I wish. I mean, it kinda worked with you-know-who."

He found it funny watching her run her mouth over the most trivial things, so, not trying to rush anything, he waited for her to realize she'd went off on a tangent on her own. Eventually she did, turning to him and looking him dead on the eye.

"But… Thank you, Midori, for keeping an eye on me and carrying me home and, uh, doing whatever else you did." She giggled. "I honestly can't remember."

She'd made him blush with that. She could tell.

"N-no problem."

She felt weird just standing there, so she started off, leaving him alone to figure things out on his own. "See ya later, dude! I've got so many freaking chores to do!" she called, and as she waved goodbye, going along her merry way, she couldn't have wiped the smile off of her face if she tried.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Carrying baskets upon baskets of dirty laundry from upstairs into the laundry room was proving to be a difficult feat—especially for Izuku, who'd already been worked to the bone long enough for one day. He grimaced whenever his nose got too close to the single sock sitting at the top of the pile, but he ignored the urge to vomit and pushed onward, needing to get this done. It was the last thing on his list, at least until tomorrow.

The common room was empty for most of the time he'd been working, but it didn't stay that way for long. Bakugo and Kirishima came waltzing in a little while later, bodies a bit too close for comfort, finishing off the lasts of their lists together. Izuku tried not to stare, but Mina had just recently told him they'd become a couple (after the whole party thing, obviously), and it was hard not to. Besides, they were even busier with chores than he was, so surely they wouldn't notice.

He kept up with the laundry, and eventually the city fell dark. He still had a few more loads to do, and he sighed when he saw the rest of his classmates eating dinner downstairs, smiles on their faces, thankful to be free of any responsibilities; he wished that were him.

Out of everybody, Mina was the one who caught his eye. She was using her incredible dance skills to her advantage, performing right there in the middle of the living room, and although he'd said this plenty of times before, it was like she was a professional. People were watching, too, namely Kirishima and Kaminari and a few others who had gone to that _stupid_ freaking party, the one that'd gotten him into this position in the first place.

He watched her spin, rolling and turning in ways he thought unimaginable, and he thought he must've been glued to her; he couldn't have taken his eyes off of her if he wanted to.

After all—and he had known this for a while, but he'd never really taken the time to acknowledge it—she was a pretty freaking spectacular breakdancer.

Kirishima caught sight of Izuku's staring, and when Izuku realized this, he tried to play it off like no big deal, hoping to God that the redhead wasn't as smart as he thought he was. His cheeks were burning like crazy though, nearly impossible to ignore, and he had to wonder why.

This wasn't the first time this had happened. What was going on with him lately?

Shaking it off, he carried the last few baskets of laundry into the laundry room, picking up the clothes that fell out along the way, and started another load. He needed a distraction.

"It's kinda late to still be doing your chores, isn't it?"

He spun around to find Uraraka standing in the doorway, one hand propped up on the doorframe and the other lying lazily by her side. He relaxed when he saw her. "I'm almost done, thankfully," he said.

"Need any help?"

"No, I think I got it."

Uraraka walked his way, suddenly looking a little more serious. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hmm?"

"That you were going to a party."

He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "I-it was a last minute decision. I thought it'd be better if you didn't know."

"Why? Because you knew I'd say no?"

Uraraka's honesty wasn't going to waver; it was here to stay. Izuku knew there was no way of working around this, and most of the time he would've been him happy about it. Usually she was only so blunt when she was overcome with emotion, especially annoyance, but in the circumstances they were in now, it did nothing but solidify the fact that he'd dug himself into a hole. In fact, he was scared half to death, and by a girl, no less, because he knew he was the reason for all of her anger.

"I just didn't want to get you involved, Uraraka. Honest."

He sure as hell didn't owe any obligations to her, nor did he feel bad for what he'd done. He didn't even think he'd _done_ anything, really. It wasn't like he lied to her. Simply put, some of the things he said might've not painted the whole truth, but that was it. He just _really_ didn't want to get Mina involved.

Shyly, Uraraka's eyes fell upon the t-shirt she held in her hands, folding it carefully. It was fresh out of the dryer, and she didn't want it to wrinkle. She'd snuck over to help Izuku despite his reassurance not to awhile ago, and he hadn't even noticed yet. "You should tell me these things, Deku. I mean, it's a _party_. Not exactly the same as hanging out with your friends or visiting your mom. You shouldn't have even gone in the first place."

He sighed, lips turning down into a frown. "I know. I-I'm sorry, Uraraka, and if it means anything to you, I regret even going in the first place. I should've just gone with my gut, and now look where it got me," he said, and he had it in him to laugh at himself. It was one of those half-hearted laughs, the kind that was awkward for both of them, where he knew what he was saying wasn't funny but he would feel weird if he didn't do _something_. "I swear half the class hates me now."

Uraraka's elbow brushed against his, scooching a little closer to him, but he wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't for the skin-to-skin contact. That was one thing—the feeling he used to get whenever she was around was starting to fade, and fast.

Actually, he'd been feeling a little funny around her for a while now. It was like there was something stuck between them, pushing them apart, and although he knew for sure that it was there and he wasn't making things up, he couldn't quite think of a logical reason for the hindrance it bore down on him. Maybe he was beginning to distance himself?

Oh, he didn't have a clue. He was horrible with feelings.

Bringing him back to the conversation was the sound of her voice. "One thing's for sure, Iida's mad at you."

He sighed, saying, "Is he? He was mad the first time I was on house arrest."

"He says he thinks you're a disgrace."

Why wasn't he surprised? In fact, _he_ was the stupid one for even putting it past the class representative in the first place. Even though they were friends, Iida was the kind of guy who'd scold anyone who so much as laid a finger outside of the fiats, and in this case, Izuku had held out his whole hand. "W-well, I kinda am—"

She grabbed him by the wrist, her grip firm at first. "No you're not. I-it's just… He's, well, Iida. Whatever. It doesn't matter what he thinks, does it?"

Izuku shook his head, but both of them knew that at heart, it did matter a little. He was the class representative, after all, and he wasn't the only one thinking that way.

Uraraka's fingers snuck between the hollows in his, and he let her do what she wanted with them. She took the opportunity and ran with it, holding his hand tentatively like she needed some getting used to. "C'mon, what do you say we get something to eat while we wait for the laundry to finish?"

"Okay," he replied, and throwing caution to the wind, he let her lead him out of there, his heart barely beating at all.


	12. Chapter 12 - Studying Tells a Lot

**A/N:** _Hey guys! I know. It's been forever. You probably don't even remember what I've written so far, but I did post a few author's notes on Wattpad sorting things out and letting you know where we are in the story (which I highly recommend reading if you haven't already and would like an explanation on the unusually long hiatus). Basically, I was having some problems with my mental health, which was quickly snowballing downhill, and needed some time off. I ended up getting professional help and am now feeling a lot better! Just in time for high school, too!_

 _Anyways, although this chapter is short, I finally have it out! This is probably the shortest chapter I've written, and I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, but this is solely meant to be a bridge chapter between the previous one and the next so that the jump between them doesn't seem so awkward. Also, school is starting for me in less than a week, and with a very, very busy schedule during the fall, updates will most likely be rare and sporadic. Things will clear up in the winter, though, and I should have my posts more organized. Hopefully by then I'll almost be done with this fic! Anyway, thank you all so much for your patience—it really does mean a lot to me—and enjoy the chapter!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

This was the first time in a while where the week didn't go by in the blink of an eye—and no, it might've been okay if it was simply due to excitement, but that was definitely _not_ the case. Time just seemed to drag on, each day getting longer and longer until Mina ultimately reached her end goal: freedom. But as it stood now, being only Friday, she'd have to sit through a whole weekend, so for now she'd just have to do what she did best and make the most out of the moment.

Those who'd been forbidden from attending class (deservingly, they'd admit, since they did break the rules, but what made their lives miserable was knowing they'd have to make up all the work at a later date) gathered around the kitchen counter to grab something quick to eat before returning to their necessary chores. Mina, as per usual, was in way too merry of a mood, and decided this was the perfect opportunity to make everyone some sandwiches. Random, she knew, but she was hungry, and it just so happened that there was a leftover jar of Marshmallow Fluff in the fridge. She went a little overboard with the fluff and a little light on the peanut butter (fluffernutters had always been her favorite), but she had a feeling everyone liked them that way anyway.

Even Izuku, who was super strict about his calorie intake, managed to get his hands on one of her sugary creations. She made his with a little extra peanut butter just because she knew he'd like it like that, and extra peanut butter equaled extra protein!

She ended up sneaking a spot next to him as well, maneuvering her way between his seat and Kirishima's, and the smile she'd been wearing since the morning only grew wider. He was the thing that'd kept her together this week—through thick and thin, through each and every time she felt like giving up, he was always in the back of her mind, pressing her to go on. If he wasn't there she wasn't sure what she would've done, since he was surely the only reason she could be in such a good mood despite the depressing circumstances. They'd never had the chance to spend this much time together, the chance she'd always needed to truly sort out her feelings, not without Uraraka getting in the way or their classmates keeping them separated, and Mina absolutely loved it. She loved the way it made her feel, the way _he_ made her feel, and she realized for what must've been the very first time that he was the person she wanted to spend forever with.

Suddenly her face set fire, and she hurriedly shook off the butterflies that'd been fluttering around in her stomach to keep from seeming suspicious. This was a big thing to realize.

Once she learned to think straight again, she glanced around the room to make sure no one had noticed her peculiar behavior. Thankfully nobody did.

Mina, Izuku, and a few of their fellow classmates ate in blissful silence while Kirishima tried his best to finish his food fast so he could get back to work. Others struck up a conversation. Bakugo was a bit behind, so he had to grab a snack instead of sitting down with everyone else. They were all a little grateful for his absence.

Kirishima, who'd been unusually quiet for the past few minutes, finally perked up with something to say. "Hey, how's everyone feeling about Final Exams?"

Mina froze.

Final Exams?

What Final Exams?

The ones Mr. Aizawa had said to very meticulously prepare for because they pretty much determined their grades for the entirety of the third semester?

She hadn't forgotten, had she?

Holy. Freaking. Crap. She had.

They were… When were they again? Monday? They started on Monday, and she hadn't even studied yet!

"Final Exams? What? I… I totally forgot!"

Izuku glanced her way, eyes filled with concern. "Um, Ashido, they start next week. You know that, right?"

Everyone else seemed stunned that she'd neglected to notice the most important test of the year sneaking up on her. She whined and held her head in frustration, angry at nobody but herself. But because she was petty, she still took it out on her friends. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"We thought you knew!" Sero shouted.

"You know I don't pay attention in class! Why didn't you set up something, like a group study sesh?"

Kaminari crossed his arms. "C'mon, Ashido. 'Cause that's boring. This is your fault. Don't blame it on us."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. But what am I supposed to do?" she whined.

Kaminari shrugged. "You're gonna have to figure it out. I mean, honestly, I wouldn't have expected any less from you in the first—"

Kirishima slapped him on the shoulder to shut him up, and Izuku, feeling empathetic about her current situation, offered his condolences. "I-I can help you study. I need to go over some topics anyway. Whatever you need."

"I know you don't want to do that, Midoriya. Besides, it's already too late. There's too much for me to remember."

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, partly out of anger and partly out of pity. "Well we can at least try."

"He makes a good point," Kirishima said.

Mina lifted her head from the table, still moping. She gave Izuku a look, one filled with suspicion and uncertainty. "Really? You'd do that? Even while we're still on house arrest?"

"Yes, Ashido. I'd be happy to."

In no time flat her frown flipped into a smile, and her eyes lit up like nebulas in the night sky. She wasn't sure what to do with the excitement of finally finding hope, and so, pleading for his comfort, she turned toward Izuku. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so, so much, Midori!" she squealed, leaning over her seat and wrapping her arms around him.

He froze, embarrassment through the roof, wondering whether or not to push her away. His friends were watching right in front of his eyes, and they were the type to tease.

"Um, A-Ashido..."

As realization dawned across her face, Mina tried to keep her cool. She'd reacted too swiftly, done something she might regret. "Sorry for surprising you, Midori, but I'm just so happy!" she squeaked, slithering her way away from him and sitting up straight, and she wouldn't have looked her classmates in the eye if her life depended on it. They were definitely looking at her funny; she could tell. "How about tonight? Let's meet here at seven once we finish our chores."

"Okay," he said. "And don't forget your books."

"I won't," she promised, and it was officially set in stone.

 **\- o - o - o -**

It was already dark by the time Izuku made it downstairs. There, sitting in the same seat as earlier, was Mina, waiting for him.

When she waved him over he immediately noticed how prepared she'd come, the backpack tossed over her chair chock-full of books and binders. Part of him thought she wouldn't have taken this seriously.

The moment he sat down was the moment they got to work, and as much as he wanted to talk all night and into the next day and then into the next and maybe even endlessly (he had a lot of things he wanted to say to her, a lot of little things), he knew how important it was that they study. Algebra II was first on the list of topics they needed to cover.

"So in order to find the base ten logarithm of 1,000, we have to figure out what power of ten equals that, which, in this case would be—"

"I'm sorry, Midoriya, and I know how frustrating this seems, but I barely even know what a logarithm _is_."

"But, Ashido, we've gone over it three times already."

Mina twiddled her thumbs, looking nervously down at her notebook. She could feel Izuku's aggravation through his words despite how hard he tried to hide it, and she didn't blame him because she was aggravated too. This was simple, yet she couldn't even get this right. "I know, but it's super confusing, and I'm too stupid to figure it out!" she said, and it felt less like a statement and more like something she should've admitted a long time ago.

He sighed, catching himself before calling her out on that last line. She wasn't stupid, and she knew that. But he couldn't blame her for feeling that way. "No you're not," he said, the greens of his eyes sullen. His hand was close enough to hers to where he could've reached out for it if he wanted to, but he thought that might make her uncomfortable. "You just need a little push in the right direction. Let's try something easier. How about equations and inequalities?"

"Talk about inequalities," she said, partly ignoring his previously mentioned advice, "look at how big your hands are compared to mine. Like, jeez, how'd I never notice?"

Truth was, she had noticed. She just wanted an excuse to touch him. And with their hands so close, she could easily slide her fingers under his, lifting them up and pressing their palms together.

She giggled, and she was glad when she realized she wasn't the only one blushing. Was it because it was her whose hand he was touching, or was it just because of the bad joke?

"What the hell? Your hand is literally, like, twice the size of mine," she said, trying to lighten the mood even more than she already did before. He bent the tips of his fingers over hers and cracked a smile as soon as she tried to hide her amusement, which lead to them both breaking out in a much needed fit of full-fledged laughter.

Mina couldn't explain why, but it all felt so natural.

He was feeling the same thing; even Izuku, the densest of dense, couldn't have missed it—it was so cut and dry.

They were more than friends, but less than lovers.

He left his hand on hers for a few extra seconds before reality set in and he took it away. He looked her in the eye, which they'd been doing nearly the whole time they'd been down here, but this time he looked a little more serious, and her heart skipped a beat. "And, for the record, you know you're not dumb."

She breathed. She thought he'd say something else.

"I know," she said, hiding her hands in the sleeves of her sweater. "But I can be sometimes."

And there it was, that awkward atmosphere that'd interfered with whatever was going on between them, an undeniable realization hanging heavily over their heads. It was best left unsaid, but they both knew what the other was thinking: _We can never be more than this._

At least not with Uraraka around.

And even if Uraraka was gone, it'd all be too fast. Izuku would look like an ass.

Thank God they were alone. Everyone else was in the other room studying and hanging out, Uraraka included, and unless they willingly turned their backs to the TV, which was surely more interesting than whatever they were doing, they wouldn't be seen.

So would it be wrong for her to shoot her shot?

But then again, their classmates were close, this wasn't the right time, and it'd only make the reality ten times harder to handle if she heard it from Izuku himself: _We can't._

So she stayed quiet and studied equations and inequalities, occasionally looking up at Izuku's freckled face whenever she began to miss it. They laughed a bunch, and another thing that was left unspoken was that they couldn't be too obvious about how much fun they were having, or somebody, Uraraka in particular, would notice.

Eventually, once they'd gone over everything they needed to learn for math, science, and English, Mina began to doze off in the comfort of her own arms. She leaned her head against the granite that coated the countertop and used the last of her energy to mutter the words, "Wanna go to the beach with me?"

He stopped in the middle of stuffing his books into his backpack. "But, Ashido, Finals are coming up."

She groaned, mad that he'd questioned her. Was it okay to fall asleep now, without even giving him the answer he needed for closure? Curfew was approaching and everyone else had already headed upstairs, but she couldn't seem to stand up or even try to pick a fight with her overwhelming exhaustion. "Friday. When they're over. It doesn't have to be just us. I can invite other people… if you want…"

"We don't have to. Invite other people, I mean," he said, resting his head in his hands and glancing out the window sill like he didn't want to give into the reality, "but we probably should."

He simply got a snore in response, and when he realized Mina was falling asleep, right there on the kitchen counter, he figured she hadn't heard him.

"Ashido."

No response.

"You awake?"

Nothing.

And so he smiled, resting his head on the table, and all of a sudden they were at the same eye level. This felt so much more… intimate. And Mina may not have realized, but he was admiring her. He wasn't sure what prompted him to do this, and it was a somewhat risky move since he could easily be seen by someone if they decided to come downstairs, but he wasn't going to stop.

Was he catching feelings?

Probably, and with the amount of trouble that could spell, it certainly wasn't a good thing.

But he couldn't help himself. She was just so stunning, so unique—everything about her was an enigma, mysterious but in a good way.

But shouldn't he reconsider? Feelings meant a lot, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to tackle that head-on. But then he realized: he'd practically been flirting with her today, and lately he'd been starting to see Uraraka as more and more of a hindrance and Ashido as more and more of a pleasure to be around.

Even all through this week, she was his most important person.

His face lit up as it dawned upon him that he really was catching feelings, _feelings_ feelings, for another girl.

Not another girl. Mina Ashido. He was catching feelings for Mina Ashido.

He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was around, and when he realized they really were alone he admired her some more. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with these feelings in the far future, but for now this was fine.

It wasn't long before he was asleep too.

 **\- o - o - o -**

It was already a little past curfew when Kaminari and Kirishima snuck downstairs for a late night snack. They spotted two of their classmates in the corner of the kitchen sleeping across from each other, and, wanting to investigate a little, they walked in their direction.

"Should we wake them up?" Kaminari asked.

Kirishima smiled and shook his head. The peaceful expression Mina was wearing and the slight upturn of Izuku's lips made him think otherwise. "Don't. They're in the middle of a good night's sleep."

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

 **A/N:** _I hope you guys liked that! Again, thank you all for your patience. And sorry if I messed up any of the math stuff, or bored you with it—I haven't studied Algebra II yet. Next chapter will be really, really exciting, I promise. It'll probably be out in around two weeks since I'm starting high school in a couple days, but it'll definitely be worth the wait!_


	13. Chapter 13 - Where Two Hearts Meet

**A/N:** _Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! As I've said, I've been very busy lately (high school's hard but also pretty fun—I've been talking to a lot of people in my grade who I never really used to talk to before), so this chapter is a little later than usual. I'm assuming it'll be the same with the next chapter (expect 2-3 week intervals for the fall), so sorry about that! But this chapter is back to the usual length about 5,000 words, and I think it speaks for itself. I really think you'll all enjoy it, and I'd love it if you could leave a comment or a review with some feedback! And, as always, I read the reviews from last chapter and am really glad to see that you're all so understanding and kind. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for praising my work._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

"Freaking finally! I've been waiting all week for Finals to end, and I actually think I did good this time!"

Mina's feet were falling asleep from sitting down for so long, pins and needles tingling the tips of her toes, and there were no words to describe how good it felt to finally stretch and stand up. She'd never been so happy to finish a test, or anything related to school for that matter, and she couldn't help but wear her heart on her sleeve as she made a desperate attempt to hide her exhilaration. Final Exams had been complete and total chaos despite the not-so-terrible outcome, so she realized over the last two days she must have done something right. They were officially over today, Friday, and not only were they done but she also thought she did really well in the areas she was most worried about. Math, science—not her strong suits. Maybe she was simply getting her hopes up, but she had a good feeling this time around, especially compared to last semester.

Kaminari (and he wasn't the only one) had noticed the aura of enthusiasm around her. "So after all that time you spent freaking out you actually think you did _good?"_

"Yup," she said, glowing from head to toe. She wanted to thank Izuku, but doing it from all the way across the room might give the rest of her classmates a weird idea. So, on the way out, when Uraraka wasn't paying attention, she whispered a "thank you" in his ear, and when he turned around, the tips of his ears red, a blush rang true on her cheeks. After a moment of silence, she said, "We're still on for the beach, right?"

He went wide-eyed, and neither did he know how to answer her. He'd forgotten about the beach and assumed he wasn't the only one, but he wasn't all that surprised—she was such a sucker for social events, and she did have a pretty undeniable love for anything that had to do with ocean, even in the middle of March. So, despite how suddenly this had been thrown at him, he gave her a thumbs-up and hurried off to catch up with Iida and Uraraka.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Neither of them wanted to swim. It was far too cold, and Dagobah's waters were known for being chilly during the winter. Not only that, but after a stressful Finals week, all they really wanted to do was relax. So, without exchanging a word, they both came to the consecutive decision not to pack their bathing suits.

When Izuku made it downstairs, he realized for the very first time that Mina was alone. He _had_ told her to invite other people, hadn't he? He even said it again after they woke up that one time from their late-night study sesh to head up to bed. Turns out that sleeping with your head on the table could get a little uncomfortable after a while. "So, um, where is everyone?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The other people we were supposed to invite?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "We were supposed to invite people?"

"I thought—"

She faked an epiphany, finally knowing what to say. "O-Oh Um, honestly?" she laughed. "I forgot."

He was dense if he couldn't tell she was feigning how much she'd forgotten—she knew good and well what she was doing was wrong, but she just needed to be alone with him.

"Ashido!" he hissed.

"What? I'm sorry, okay? Everyone already has plans anyway, and it's not that big of a deal."

He scratched the side of his cheek. "Well, it kinda is…"

She stopped dead in her tracks, curiously raising one eyebrow. "Of course it isn't. Why would it be?"

He looked away.

She understood. She had a sneaking suspicion that would be the reason.

"Oh, Midori. No one's gonna see it like that. Besides, we don't feel that way about each other."

Lies.

 _You are a liar,_ she told herself.

Would he even believe something so silly? Was she beginning to become transparent?

He looked again toward the floor, avoiding seeing eye-to-eye. "I know, but still." Then, knowing he wasn't going to win against someone so stubborn, he reconsidered. "Just… nevermind. You're right. We should probably go before it gets dark."

She lit up like a lantern. "Yup!" she said, smiling, the specks of gold in her eyes brighter than ever before, and she wondered: _How could something so little make me so happy? How could I let him do this to me?_

Leaving the dorms with him by her side, she knew the inevitable truth. With the way she was acting, she'd never be able to keep her feelings a secret forever.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

"I probably should've worn more layers," Izuku said, sarcasm strong in his voice as his feet finally touched the sand. It was freezing outside, and by the time they'd turned onto Dagobah, the welcome sign withered away with rust, gray clouds had already begun rolling in. The forecast never said anything about rain. They didn't have an umbrella, or even a rain jacket—they weren't prepared for this.

Staring out at the water reminded Mina of the last time they were here. It wasn't just them back then. It was Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero too, and it wasn't too long before she realized how she felt, but she still had a little inkling at the time that she saw Izuku as more than a friend. Now, today, they were all alone. No one wanted to go to the beach on a weekend in the midst March, that was a fact.

She remembered him chasing after her, following in her footsteps, and the adrenaline rush that had finally awakened within her at that exact moment came back all at once in the here and now, coursing through her body like it did back then and giving her the confidence boost she'd always needed. It made her want to run, rule the world, tell Izuku exactly what she'd been hiding from him all this time. She knew it'd come back to her, but it was just a matter of when. And now here it was: This was the when, and it was back with a vengeance.

She took off the button-up part of her uniform. "Don't you remember the last time we were here?" she asked, smiling back at him, shimmying out of her top. She was left with only her shirt and skirt to cover her body, and, if it counted, her stockings, and although she felt a little exposed, she could undoubtedly say she didn't mind.

"Y-Yeah," he replied, cheeks hot with a red hue. "Training for that Quirk thingy Aizawa threw at us. I don't think he ever actually gave it a name." He tried his damndest to search for an excuse to keep talking so that he didn't have to look at her, but he couldn't find one. This was just like the last time—she was technically stripping down right in front of him, and she either didn't realize or, the more likely possibility, didn't care.

"So, what're you waiting for?" she said without ever taking her eyes off of him. "Take yours off, too."

He was clearly kind of uncomfortable, since, if put in the wrong context, what she was saying sounded a little inappropriate, whether she meant for it to be interpreted that way or not. But he followed through with it anyway, unbuttoning his jacket and letting it fall to the ground.

"So, you ready to go in?" she asked, kicking off her shoes.

"But, I thought—isn't it a little cold to swim?"

"So? We can wade if that's what you want. But I'm just letting you know that you sometimes gotta take risks in life, Midoriya."

And then, to prove herself right, she took a risk she'd wanted to take for a while, did something brave. She grabbed his hand, this time slowly, carefully, letting him know that this wasn't just a spur of the moment decision—that this was something more, this was her throwing her heart out on the line.

"A-Ashido, what if our uniforms get wet?" he stammered, her grip on his wrist too tight for him to let go.

"They'll dry. It's just water," she said, her stubborn side stopping him from sneaking away. This reminded her so much of that night, except the stars weren't out this time and they were really completely alone, not another soul in sight.

"B-But people will notice!"

"Let them talk. It's not like we did anything bad."

He kept on complaining until they were knee-deep in saltwater and surrounded by seaweed and stepping on seashells, to which he finally realized his efforts were futile and succumbed to the fact that he should probably just give up. He wasn't winning any battles and he certainly wasn't winning a war, and he knew there was no use fighting the inevitable. Besides, he knew he'd have fun, it was just the consequences he'd eventually have to face that were forcing him to reconsider.

Wanting to tease him a little, she splashed him first. He stood there stunned, and she waited patiently for his revenge, but it never came. "You gonna get me back, or what?"

He wasn't one to turn down a challenge. He simply needed to wait for the initial shock to wear off, and once it did he used up every last bit of energy he could to splash her back with the force of a thousand suns.

She wiped the water out of her eyes. "Oh, it's on."

A battle broke out between them, a not entirely serious battle, a battle filled with laughter and enthusiasm and euphoria. They were dancing, running in circles around each other, surrounded by their own little bubble of happiness that nothing and no one could burst. The only thing that mattered was right here and right now in this very moment—everything else seemed meaningless.

Izuku was suddenly brought back to reality by the feeling of something cold hitting his shoulder, and then again on the tip of his nose. Raindrops. He'd predicted this, but that didn't make him any more prepared for it.

It started out as a light drizzle, but only grew heavier as time went on. Eventually it began to downpour.

He stopped splashing for a second. "Maybe we should get out, you know, in case of a thunderstorm."

"Yeah," she said, beginning to tread toward the shore. "I did _not_ bring a change of clothes for this."

He laughed, walking back beside her, sitting down on the sand once they were far away enough from the sea. Their shoulders were brushing against each other due to the close proximity, but Izuku remained completely unfazed up until the moment he realized he could see through her shirt. She looked so vulnerable in that black bra, her chest rising and falling with each and every breath, and a bright red blush made its way onto his face because he knew he shouldn't be doing this. He shouldn't even be here, he shouldn't be getting so close to her, and he certainly shouldn't be letting this go on without some kind of form of intervention, even if he was the one who'd have to make that move.

He decided at the very least he'd inch a little away from her. "A-Ashido, I don't mean to startle you, but I-I can kinda see your bra…"

She didn't even bother looking down because she knew that already, and instead kept staring at Izuku. Didn't he realize it was just as bad for him as it was for her? His shirt clung tightly to his chest, showing off the abs running down his torso, the incredibly lean physique he'd worked so hard to get that she couldn't take her eyes off of. She blushed. "Yours is see-through too, y'know."

Neither of them felt it necessary to cover up.

Thunder—mind-bogglingly loud thunder—screamed from the sky, scaring the living bejesus out of Mina. She jumped, letting out a small squeal and grabbing Izuku by the arm, holding him close for a little longer than necessary. She'd only done it out of instinct, but the damage was already done, so might as well not let go. "God, that scared me," she said, still shaking.

He tried to keep calm, but with her body pressed up against his he was bound to be nervous. "Thunder scares you?" he laughed, a slight stutter in his voice.

"No! I just… wasn't paying attention… So I wasn't really ready for it…"

She had to pause multiple times mid-sentence upon realizing—they were unusually close, closer than what she was used to, and she wasn't sure she could handle it. She shouldn't have turned around, and she was mad at herself for doing so. She just _had_ to tell him face-to-face that it wasn't the thunder; she couldn't have him thinking she was a chicken.

But she didn't regret it. Staring into his eyes right then, she didn't regret a thing.

Warmth spread over her face like a forest fire, and in order to avoid an irreversible amount of embarrassment, she looked the other way and hid behind her hair.

"Midoriya."

It was only the faintest of whispers, but Izuku still heard, his breath catching in the back of his throat.

She placed a hand on the center of his chest and pushed him to the ground. She was delicate about it, he'd admit, but it still managed to take him off guard.

What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say?

What did she want?

The same thing he did?

Would it be wrong for him to let her have it?

Would it be wrong if he wanted it too?

They froze for a second, taking in the sound and the sight and the smell of the coast, taking in each other's eyes, taking in the serenity they'd created around them. What had once been a small spark had caught fire in their hearts.

She straddled his hips, her legs resting on either side of his body, the knee he'd raised grazing the bottom her skirt. Her hair was dripping wet, droplets of water trickling down her scalp to the end of her curly pink strands, landing on his face and then finally hitting the ground. She parted her lips a little.

Izuku was so at peace. Nervous, but at peace. He didn't think he could feel this way about someone. Maybe he liked Mina more than he thought.

She leaned in, shortening the distance between them, the background noise becoming fuzzy as all he could focus on was her. Everything else had been forgotten—his friends, his family, his hero life, even Uraraka.

Even Uraraka.

She got so, so close to kissing him, but before she could he separated himself by putting his hand between their lips. "Ashido," he whispered, furrowing his eyebrows, eyes downcast and looking away. He put his hand on her shoulder, reality hitting him hard as he gently pushed her off of him.

They sat facing each other, looking into each other's eyes, and in her moment of clarity Mina finally knew what to say, what she'd wanted to say all this time.

"I like you."

"But, Uraraka—"

Of course the first thing to come out of his mouth was Uraraka. She leaned in a little closer and grabbed his hand. "Just, before anything else, answer me this: Do you like me too?"

He froze, blinked a few times, cheeks fiery with a furious red. After a moment's hesitation, he breathed, letting out a sigh of relief and looking her in the eyes just to make sure she knew he was telling the truth.

"Yeah. I do."

She could've cried right then and there, and it wouldn't have been because she was happy. "So, then, why? Why did you push me away?"

"Because I'm seeing someone else right now, Ashido. You know that."

It was funny. When Izuku first started studying at U.A., romance wasn't even a possibility that could've come _close_ to crossing his mind. But now here he was, caught between two girls who both seemingly had feelings for him, heavily leaning toward the one he wasn't supposed to be with. He swore up and down that romance would never come before heroics, but lately it seemed it was sure getting close.

"Midoriya, do you even _like_ Uraraka?"

She acted as if she already knew the answer to that question. _He_ didn't even know if he knew the answer to that question.

"I don't know."

"But… You like me?"

"Yes."

That was the one thing he was certain about.

Truth was, he thought he liked Uraraka, but it wasn't until he started to fall for Mina that he realized his so-called feelings for her probably weren't genuine.

That meant he probably really did like Mina, huh. A lot.

"You know, we can't just pretend there's nothing going on between us forever," she said, shattering the possibility of keeping this on the down-low and eventually even forgetting about it. But then again, that would be a horrible thing to do, and he wasn't quite sure he could do that Uraraka.

Yet, somehow, he was still indecisive. "But, I-I mean, I don't know if I can tell her. I don't know if I _want_ to tell her. I really don't know what to think right now, or do," he said, suddenly feeling crazily overwhelmed. "I-I know Uraraka cares about me, and I know how bad of a person I'd have to be to keep this a secret, but I just don't want to hurt her."

"She's in love with you, y'know. Uraraka. It would really kill me to see her find out this way."

Izuku's eyes widened.

Mina felt sick knowing she'd let Uraraka's secret slide, Uraraka's and Uraraka's only, quickly flipping around and covering her mouth in shock. She'd pinkie promised a while back that she wouldn't tell a soul. "I-I thought you knew already," she stammered, the only excuse she could think of. "It just slipped."

He laughed, anxiety clear in his voice. "O-Oh, well, I guess I'm flattered? But I should probably be hearing this from Uraraka…"

"Yeah, if only I could learn to keep my damn mouth shut," she said, letting out a dramatically long sigh.

The rain died down and the clouds cleared up, giving them a chance to dry off. They were already drenched to the point of no return, and a little less of a drizzle wasn't going to do all that much for them, but it was better than nothing.

"Hey, Ashido?"

"Yeah?"

Do you… really, really like me? Like, if what you said earlier was true, as much as Uraraka does?"

She had to think about it for a second, wondering how to phrase it in the simplest way possible that would both satisfy Izuku while also preventing her from saying those three little words. She didn't want to tell them to him too early, as the likelihood was high that doing so would lead to a negative outcome in the future, and the fact that it was even crossing her mind right now was enough to freak her out.

"Here, let me put it this way," she said, a slight tremble in her voice she tried so hard to hide. She was beginning to become more and more comfortable talking to him about her feelings, but the thought of him not liking her as much as she liked him made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. But, still, she decided to go through with it. "I like you enough to want to kiss you. I like you enough to want to steal you away from another girl, a girl who is one of my closest and bestest friends. You're the only person I've ever felt this much for, Midoriya."

He blushed, sighed, the pretty purple lilac on her cheeks clear as day. "What?" she asked.

"Just thinking," he said. "Weighing out my options."

"So Uraraka and I are 'options' now?"

His jaw dropped. He hadn't even taken the time to process what was coming out of his mouth. "N-No, I didn't mean it like that! I—"

She wanted to reassure him that everything was fine and she'd only meant it as a joke. "It's alright, Midori. I get it. Heat of the moment kinda thing, am I right?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah. Sorry. I've just been a bit stressed out lately because of all this. No matter what I do I feel like I'll look like an asshole."

She reached over and wrapped her arms around him. "Stop it, Midori. I seriously doubt anyone's gonna think you're an asshole. And if there is someone, you better believe it won't be me."

With his hands so clammy and his heart hammering out of his chest, he hesitated to hug her back. "Um, Ashido, what're you…"

She squeezed him as tightly as humanly possible, their clothing seeping together in the cold as she surrounded herself with his warmth. "Giving you a hug. Friends are allowed to hug each other, aren't they? Besides, you really looked like you needed one."

He buried his head in the crook of her shoulder, his poofy green hair tickling the nape of her neck as he rested his arms comfortably around her torso. He relaxed and let out a sigh upon realizing that all his worries had magically gone away the moment he touched Mina.

They stayed like that for a while.

 _You are my first love,_ she wanted to say. _Please, if there's anything I want in my life, it's for us to be together._

She prayed he would find a way to make it work.

A lightning bolt struck the sky, surprising them both. A few seconds later it started to rain as heavily as it had when they were once wading in shallow waters, interrupting their peace. They weaved out of each others' arms.

"Maybe we should go," Izuku said, eyes on the tide. The waves were getting increasingly larger and more and more menacing as they neared the shore.

"Okay," she replied. "The rain's getting to be too much for me anyways."

The walk back to U.A. was at least supposed to be a little relaxing compared to the events that had occurred down at Dagobah, but the thought of anything remotely in that realm was immediately ruined by the continuous dreary downfall. They strolled in silence, everything that needed to be said hanging over their heads like a heavy gray storm cloud, and there was really no reason to say it aloud because they both knew what the other was thinking, clear as day.

The school's skyline appeared above the edge of the horizon, balconies of the upper-level dorm rooms coming into view. Mina knew she didn't have much time.

She stopped short, right dead center in the midst of Izuku's dust.

"Tell Uraraka."

He turned around. "What?"

She bawled her fists. "Tell Uraraka about what happened today." Part of her couldn't believe she was finally admitting they were more than friends. "It's the right thing to do."

"But, I don't know what to say—"

"Midoriya, c'mon. She deserves to know. She really likes you a lot, and if she were to find out you stayed together with her while secretly having feelings for someone else, she'd be heartbroken."

He ran his hands up the sides of his face, letting out the breath he'd been holding in his puffed up cheeks and lacing his fingers through his hair. "I know, I know, I know. The very last thing I want to do is break her heart, and maybe that's why telling her might not be such a good idea."

"But she's going to find out. No matter what you do, she's going to find it out. Would you rather her hear it from you, or someone else?"

He listened to her drone on and on and over and over about the same exact thing—"tell Uraraka; she needs to know before it's too late"—until it finally dawned upon him that she might've made a good point. Though he didn't necessarily agree that ending things with Uraraka so suddenly was such a great idea, he knew he'd eventually have to do it, so why not now?

 _Why not now?_ he asked himself. _Because I'm scared. Scared of losing a year-long friendship with someone I trust, scared of making her hate me._

But he decided that even though he was fearful, it was for the best. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll find a way to tell her. But… You need to give me some time."

He looked up at Mina to see her smiling sweetly at him, her puppy-dog eyes her only weapon. She took his hand. "As in 'some time', do you mean today? Tomorrow?"

From the neck to the tips of his ears, he turned red. "A-Ashido! The school's right over there!"

Her features fell flat as she succumbed to the inevitable by letting go of him, a sickening feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. They were still a good distance away from U.A., and an even further distance from the dorms. So why was he so adamant about this?

"O-Oh, sorry, Midori," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But I doubt anyone will see us."

"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Yeah…" she replied, her voice soft and shaky as if she were skating on thin ice. They were walking back a little too far away from each other for her liking.

He even insisted they entered the dormitory at different times. "To avoid suspicion," he'd said. Since apparently them both being glum and soaking wet would be a dead giveaway that something had happened.

She knew it would be silly for her to fight him, so, as a big f-you, she marched straight through the main gates before he could even say a word. She assumed, or at least hoped, that he'd waited a little while to follow in her footsteps. Nobody really questioned her when she immediately walked in, as only a few of her classmates were downstairs and she wasn't exactly the greatest of friends with any of them, so it was an easy task to make it to the elevator without raising much suspicion. But, before she could press the button, Kirishima came out from the shadows.

"Why are you so wet?"

She jumped. "Holy crap, Kiri! Don't scare me like that."

"What? I just wanna know."

She realized she needed an excuse, and fast. "U-Um, no real reason. Just needed to head back home real quick and forgot my umbrella."

"So you didn't come back to get it?"

She freaked. She had no idea how to counteract this. "Um, uh, I… was in a rush!"

"Y'know, Ashido, you're a really bad liar. I can always see right through you."

It made her furious that he found this funny, since anyone who knew him knew that he was also a bad liar like she was. But she decided not to bring that up right now, as it definitely wasn't the time to be picking a fight.

She instead tried to play it off as if he hadn't caught onto her. "Okay, and? It doesn't really matter. It's not even that big of a deal. I need to go upstairs now, so—"

He grabbed her arm. "Ashido. Something must've happened, or you wouldn't be trying to avoid me like this," he said.

"Okay, fine. Maybe something did happen, but is it cool if I don't tell you? I really want to keep this a secret."

It suddenly sprung to Mina's mind that she needed to let Izuku know that Kirishima was downstairs, and that if he walked in at the wrong time, he'd probably question him.

Kirishima nodded, let her go, and watched as she hit the button for the fourth floor. "Okay, but if you need to talk to someone, I'm here."

"You sound like the school counselor," she laughed. "But thanks."

The elevator doors closed, Kirishima slowly leaving her line of sight, and, once she knew she was all alone, she let out a sigh of relief. She took out her phone and texted Izuku.

 **Kirishima was in the lobby and he seemed suspicious. I didn't see him go upstairs or anything, so try your best to avoid him, okay?**

Izuku gave her a one-word answer. **Okay.**

She tapped her foot against the tiles as the elevator halted on her floor. She wasn't exactly sure whether to be happy or sad. On one end of the stick, Izuku liked her. Izuku, who she'd been chasing after for weeks, had feelings for _her,_ real, genuine feelings. But on the other end, she didn't believe he'd have the heart to tell Uraraka, and wouldn't that technically be cheating? She really hoped he'd just get it over with, because she'd rather not be known as the girl who got involved with a cheater. It didn't matter to her if he intended for it to be that way or not.

Which he definitely didn't. Izuku was a good person, a great one at that, and she knew he had a heart of gold. And that was exactly why he wasn't ready to tell Uraraka. He simply didn't want to hurt her.

One thing she did know, though, was that she'd somehow gotten herself wrapped up in quite the predicament, and, if things kept heading the way they were, she was oblivious to how she was going to get out of it.


	14. Ch 14 - A Question of Right or Wrong

**A/N:** _I know, it's been way too long. I'm really, really sorry to keep you guys waiting, but I had some real life problems I had to deal with before getting back to writing. Luckily that's over now, at least for a little while (I don't know what the future entails, so I'll let you guys know if anything comes up by writing "On Hiatus" in the synopsis of this story), but anyway, here's a new chapter. Not my proudest work—it could use a lot of improvement, as could most of this fic, but I tried my best. I've sacrificed sleep three nights in a row for you guys, so I hope you appreciate this! I'd love it if you'd leave a review with some feedback and/or constructive criticism! I read every one of them!  
_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

It'd only been a day since they'd been to the beach, but Izuku was already somehow sick.

The brink of twilight on a beautiful Sunday evening—there couldn't have been a better time for Class 1-A to prepare a delightful and delectable, almost fine-dining kind of dinner. Beef brisket and katsudon, curry and rice stew, all of it fitting for finishing off the last of their celebration. After all, making it through Final Exams was an accomplishment.

Mina, in line to grab some food with all of the rest of her classmates, was caught up in the conversation behind her.

"Dude, Midoriya, you okay?" Kaminari asked, eyes on Izuku as he stared down at an empty plate. "Your face is all red."

With a faraway look in his eyes, there wasn't any way she could deny that Izuku had fallen into a fog. Even from a distance, she was able to come to the conclusion that his chest was rising and falling a lot more heavily than usual, and judging solely by his slow response, he seemed a little feverish. He shook his head, almost as if to be a wake-up call. "I'm fine. Just a little hot, is all."

For a moment, Mina wondered if she was the one imagining things. Peering down at her Hero hoodie and tight black leggings, a draft of cold air wooshed right over her shoulder at a temperature surely below zero, and she shivered.

Nope. It was him. It had to be him.

Kaminari, now even more engaged in the confrontation than before, kneaded his eyebrows. "You sure? You seem… off."

Mina nodded unknowingly, a little part of her grimacing as out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Uraraka creeping up behind the boy in question and placing a gentle hand upon his forehead.

His reaction was half that of shock and a shrug. "You're warm," she said, peering over his shoulder. "Really warm. Do you feel sick?"

He nodded.

"You look sick to me, Midoriya," Kaminari said, and Mina finally realized something: If Izuku catching a cold was anyone's fault, it was probably hers. The beach, the rain, them sitting too long in their sopping wet clothes—it was all to blame.

Yet she froze, her feet still stuck in place. What it took to go up and apologize to him had magically vanished into thin air; she didn't have the courage.

His classmates, his peers, those who cared for him, made it known they wished he'd get well. Offering their condolences, they bombarded him, almost uncomfortably so, and Mina, wanting to make sure they didn't suspect anything was awry, quickly followed suit. He gave her a special smile, one he gave no other, and his adorably speckled freckles and warmly red cheeks made her insides melt into a remarkable puddle of love. She wished these feelings would last longer, she wished they'd never end, exactly what she'd wished ever since she started to fall for him, but Uraraka led him upstairs before they had the chance to linger, the chance to stay. Was it right or wrong to be jealous, Mina wasn't sure.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Izuku trudged through his dorm room door, Uraraka by his side barely being able to keep him steady. He'd felt like shit ever since he got out of bed, and now that the day was over, he was just so ready to roll around in his room and wrap himself up in a blanket that even resting his head on something as soft as a pillow would do. If he'd assumed correctly, it all kind of made sense, since his temperature had to have been above 38 degrees.

Uraraka knew she had to keep calm. She had an important job to fulfill. But even so, her nerves still managed to get the best of her. As they always did, she supposed. Izuku was her first love—how could they not? She'd brought up a tub of cold water to dunk Izuku's washcloth in, but she nearly spilled it before she even got the chance to lower it onto his desk.

She loved that he could do this to her, yet hated it at the same time.

"Right after Final Exams, huh? Bad timing if you ask me," Uraraka said, wetting the washcloth and resting it on top of his forehead. Despite the circumstances, she did her best to make casual conversation.

"Yeah," he breathed, barely able to get the words out. "At least it wasn't _during_ Final Exams. Imagine all that work I'd have to make up."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, _please_. Miss one day at this school and you'll be making up work for a week."

Silence.

For whatever reason, there was this weird atmosphere hanging over their heads.

He cleared his throat, sinking down further into the bed sheets. Uraraka began to fret. "A-Ah, I should take your temperature!"

He pointed toward the thermometer.

"Okay, let's see…" she muttered as she motioned for him to open his mouth, picking it up off the table and sliding it under his tongue. The ten seconds it took to get a result went by painfully slower than they should have.

"Oh, geez," she stammered. "38.5 degrees."

He groaned, rolling over onto his side. The washcloth he'd been wearing fell off his forehead, and he begrudgingly put it back on. It was the only thing keeping him cold.

"Do you need anything? Something to eat? Something to drink?"

He looked up into her eyes. "Um, I don't want to be a bother, so you don't have to, but… Does chicken soup sound okay?" He needed notalgia right about now, and it just so happened his mom used to make it for him as a kid.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right back. Here, I'll text you when I'm on my way up."

She was out the door and probably standing in the elevator on her way down to the first floor by the time he even made the move to bat an eyelash. Not that he particularly cared, anyway—he was too tired to care about much at all, if even that.

Uraraka was like a mom. If chicken soup was what he wanted, chicken soup was what he'd get, and since she wasn't much of a chef, she grabbed the canned kind and immediately into the microwave it went. In to time flat she was on her way back up to the second floor, carefully opening his bedroom door as to not startle him out of his slumber. She was glad she'd left it unlocked, and, to her surprise, he hadn't quite fallen asleep yet. He was on the verge of it, though.

"I brought your chicken soup," she started, sitting back down by his bed and running her hands through her hair. "It's the microwavable kind. Sorry if it sucks—I'm not a very good cook. Do you want it now, or would you rather wait? You look kind of tired."

He smiled, eyes half-shut. "Now's fine. Thanks, Uraraka. You're a lifesaver."

She blushed.

He sat up and began eating, and the two of them talked. They talked and talked and talked, all the way up until they were bored of talking, and then they sat. He sat in silence and stared off into space while she lazily scrolled through her phone, and then he was suddenly done with his soup and laying back down on his bed.

Every once in a while he got the feeling that there was no merit to his and Uraraka's conversations. He liked her. He really did. But it wasn't the same as when he was with Mina. It wasn't the same kind of like.

He liked her as a friend, at least; she was one of his closest. And he felt so, so bad for even accepting her request to go to the dance in the first place. He'd been leading her on this whole time, and there wasn't a single thing he could do to get rid of his guilt.

He just really wasn't expecting that in the middle of that mishap, he'd fall for someone else—and hard.

As he glanced at Uraraka out of the corner of his eye, the guilt he'd felt merely moments before had morphed into a conglomeration of a thousand pounds, all of which was weighing heavily down on top of his chest. He couldn't breathe, suffocating in self-hatred. He couldn't let Uraraka leave without letting her know.

"Uraraka…"

"Yes?"

He paused. He thought about holding her hand, but that would only make the bombshell he was about to drop on her ten times harder to hear.

 _Tell her._

He groaned, quiet for a moment.

 _Tell her, you idiot! You're only hurting her by waiting!_

"Can you, um, pass me that water over there? The one by my desk?"

 _Dumbass._

"Sure! Hold on a sec," she said, eager to jump up and get it for him.

She was always ready to do anything and everything he wanted. She was there no matter what, and he was an asshole for not doing the same.

She handed him the water, and he gulped down the first few sips like he hadn't been so thirsty in his life. It wasn't long before he passed out—out of exhaustion or purely out of stress, he didn't know—and despite the fact that he would've never known, Uraraka stayed right there beside him, watching over him the whole time.

She held his right hand, the one hanging lifelessly over the side of the sheets.

"Deku-kun," she mouthed. She let out less than a whisper. Then, out of the blue, she held his hand with a little more confidence, a little more force, but not enough to wake him. "Sometimes… I wonder if I might be burdening you. Am I in the way of anything? Your studies? Training? Dreams of becoming a hero? I really wish you'd rely on me more."

Uraraka knew she was taking on too many responsibilities for someone she was only just dating. She still hoped she was important to him, though, important enough to be the first person he'd go to, because that was who he was for her. But she knew that assuming that would be jumping the gun.

But she did love him. She could admit that now, unlike a long time ago, and she'd surely felt this way for at least the last six months. It'd probably been longer, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly when it started.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to continue, he started to say something.

"M—Mi…"

Uraraka leaned in, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Mi? Deku, what're you—"

"M-Mi..." he mumbled again.

The realization hit her.

"O-Oh! 'Mi' as in mother, right? I didn't even think about that. Do ya miss her? Ya must be dreaming of her right now. I bet she'd be a lot better at helpin' ya than I am. I honestly can't blame ya, though, 'cause I miss my parents too."

Her accent was starting to show.

She scratched her scalp in that Uraraka-kind-of way, the way she liked to rely on whenever she wanted to wrap her head around things she had a difficult time comprehending. "I don't know why I'd be thinkin' anything else, anyway…"

He rolled over, burying his face deep down in his pillow. He let out a loud snore.

She sighed. She was only being silly. Resting her head in her hands, she leaned a little closer to him. A smile crossed the corners of her lips. "Well, Deku, I haven't had dinner yet, so I think it's time I head out. Have a good night's sleep, okay? Try to make it to school tomorrow if you can."

She decided she could stay for at least a little while longer. Calling it at five minutes, she stood up, skipping out the dorm room door.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

"Ashido."

Startled, she slipped up, spilling the last of her melon soda on her brand new Hero hoodie.

"Kirishima! Look what you did!"

Kirishima decided he'd better be on the defensive. "What _I_ did? You're the one who spilled it! What's with this new attitude problem you've got going on lately? It's been bugging me, Ashido," he said, a hint of anguish in his eyes he was seemingly trying to hide.

She stayed quiet.

He smirked. " _Oh_ , I get it. It looks like Uraraka just got back, so you don't need to worry. He's _all_ yours."

She was seconds away from elbowing him in the side out of spite. "Y'know, I'm all for joking around and stuff, but, Kiri, you gotta learn when to keep your mouth shut."

He huffed.

It wasn't like she'd hurt him if she decided to do it. He had the reflexes to activate his Quirk fast enough.

"I'm going upstairs. I need to change," she said, turning a blind eye to whom she would usually call her one of her best friends and making a beeline for the elevator at the back of the building. She looked over her shoulder right before pressing the button for the fourth floor, rolling her eyes all the while, and she realized: Uraraka had snuck right back downstairs like it was nothing, like being up there with Izuku was totally run-of-the-mill—as if they were more than merely dating, already acting like husband and wife. Class 1-A seemed to accept it, so why couldn't she?

That was a stupid question. Obviously because she liked him, and he liked her back.

She shook off the thought, hiding it in the back of her mind, heading through the hallways to her room, changing into clean clothes, and hopping back onto the elevator to travel down two floors. She snuck over to the boys' wing and knocked on Izuku's door.

Footsteps pattered heavily against the ground on his way over to her, and a faint "coming" could be heard through the paper thin walls and hardwood floorboards. She felt guilty; she'd gotten him out of bed for no reason.

He was a mess. His hair was disheveled, his sweatpants slipping down his waist, and his eyes seemed to stay glued shut. The moment he saw her, though, realization hit him hard, and his face lit up like a Christmas tree all the way up to the tips of his ears.

"A-Ashido! Um, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you," he fretted. "Hold on a minute," he said, leaving the door cracked open a bit as he went and tidied up his room. He headed back over to her. "Okay, you can come in now."

It was funny. He had went from completely dead inside to wide awake, all in the span of seconds. She giggled at the thought of it. "Midori, you can relax. I don't care what you look like or what your room looks like. It doesn't matter to me. Just rest, okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just kinda disorganized, being sick and all. Is it cool if I lay down?"

She smirked. "No, stupid. I didn't come here for you to bore me by going back to sleep. Get up. Right now."

In the midst of shimmying into his bed sheets, he froze.

She let a little laughter slip. "Oh, Midori, I'm kidding. You should've seen the look on your face!"

He sighed, smiling, not sure what was the right thing to say. Inevitably, he ended up giving into instinct and curling back up in his blankets. Even Mina was jealous.

She sat in the same spot as Uraraka, giving him the same exact look Uraraka had given him not long before. Longing. Hesitancy. Wonder in her eyes, speaking by saying nothing at all. What should she say? Was it really a good idea to come up here in the first place? How should she even approach this kind of situation?

She usually wouldn't think these things with anyone else, but Izuku made her overanalyze everything.

He decided he'd help her out a bit. "So, what's up? What are you doing here?"

She smiled. "Honestly? I don't know. I guess I just got… envious. Of Uraraka."

He blushed. "Oh."

"Yeah. And I wanted to ask you a question."

"What?"

"Did you tell her? About us?"

"Uh..." he started, staring off into space, knowing that was enough for her to figure it out. "I— Ashido."

"Heh, funny. That was the _perfect_ opportunity, and you blew it. Are you ever gonna tell her, or are we just gonna pretend that this is nothing?"

"No, Ashido, I just don't know what to say—"

"Midoriya, you're gonna have to tell her eventually. Either that or get your secret spilled for you, and I'm sure neither of us want that."

Izuku didn't want to reason with her, but he also didn't he want to argue with her either. He'd tried. He'd tried telling Uraraka, and he was seconds away from doing so, but in the end he was just too chicken. Did that not count for anything? "If you think I'm not trying, you're wrong, Ashido. I am, okay? Believe me. I'd just rather let her down easy, and right now, I don't exactly know how to do that."

Izuku laid flat on his back, staring straight up at the ceiling. Glow-in-the-dark stars and some extra All Might memorabilia he had laying around were all that his eyes could see, but before he knew it, Mina had her head resting on his stomach, and he couldn't look at anything else but her.

"I thought you were mad at me," he said.

"I am."

The humming from the overhead fan stopped what would've been an inevitable silence.

He lifted his knee a little, hoarding her attention all to himself, but at the same time she didn't seem to mind it. "You should probably get off. We're not dating, you know."

"Maybe we would be if you'd told her."

"No, if I'd told her you wouldn't be up here right now."

She decided she'd change the subject. "Your stomach's rumbling. Really loudly."

His face set fire. She giggled at his not-so-newfound shyness, and, as his eyes met hers, he noticed there was a certain sparkle about them, brighter than anything he had ever seen before. "Midori, you're kinda cute, y'know. Really cute."

He hid his face under the covers.

She laughed a little, weaving her hand into his, holding it up happily. They were a perfect fit, a force to be reckoned with. For a split second, she wished they weren't the only two in the room.

Slipping his fingers through the spaces between hers, Izuku squeezed once, twice, lightly enough to barely even be noticeable. But she still figured it out, sending her heart soaring, bringing her to tried-and-true bliss.

He let go, and she thought, _Perhaps he hadn't done it on purpose._ She could've just been getting ahead of herself—as she always did, she supposed. It was habitual for her. Especially lately.

"Midoriya."

"Yes?"

"We can't keep doing this."

"What do you mean?"

"You and me. It isn't gonna work this way. Something needs to change. You either tell Uraraka, or it's over."

Mina said that with a straight face, but inside her heart was breaking. She knew whatever was going on between them was wrong to begin with—they were screwing over one of their best friends, completely neglecting anything and everything she felt—but she couldn't help herself. She was in love with him. He was her first, and she wanted him to be her last.

But she had to give it to him up-front. She wasn't cutting any corners, hiding any parts of the whole truth. Uraraka needed to know, and if it wasn't anytime soon, Mina wasn't going to be able to look Izuku in the eyes anymore.

But she really wasn't sure if she could keep that promise. She'd inevitably end up flirting with him in the meantime, similarly to what she was doing right now, but how would she be able to resist temptations in the future? Could she really move on so easily? Especially from a love like that?

Of course, this was assuming he'd chicken out of telling the truth.

"I will, Ashido. Soon. I promise. I just gotta work up the nerve."

"Okay," she said, sighing and sitting up, letting go of the intimacy they'd had merely moments before. Part of her believed him, part of her didn't. She knew he was trying, but she could never see someone as shy as him putting on that brave of a face.

She dipped the washcloth, the one that had fallen on the floor forever ago, into the bucket of water that Uraraka had brought up before. She wrung it out and laid it on his forehead. "I feel bad. I haven't helped you at all since I've been up here."

"It's okay," he mumbled.

She brushed the loose curls out of his face. "No, it's not. I'm sucky at this kinda stuff. I've been worrying about myself too much. You sure I'm worth your time?"

"Yes."

She smiled. "Thanks, Midori. I'm glad. Well, I should probably go. It's getting late, and people will wonder where I am," she said, flicking him on the forehead, staying silent at his surprise but wanting to let out a laugh.

She stood up, waving goodbye on her way out the door. She checked each end of the hallway only to see she was alone, and, once she was sure she wouldn't be spotted, she floored it for the elevator, which was conveniently close by. Little did she know, she wasn't as sly as she thought.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Mineta's room was the perfect hangout. Kaminari couldn't get over the crazy fantasies his friend would think up and the stupid things they'd discuss, like the top ten prettiest Pro Heroes and which ones they thought they stood a chance with (none, they'd soon out), but, ultimately, as life would have it, all good things would eventually have to come to an end.

"I think I'ma head out. See you later, dude."

Mineta furrowed his eyebrows. "Already? It's not like we'll be doing anything in school tomorrow."

"Sorry, bro. Everyone's still downstairs, and I wanna hang out with them. See ya," he said, his hand on the doorknob. He paused. "Unless you wanna come too."

"Nah, I'm good."

"Okay."

Kaminari pushed the door open, but before he even had the chance to make a move, he noticed his fellow pink-haired friend peeking her head out of Izuku's room, looking for an opportunity to leave.

She was seconds away from seeing him when he quickly closed the door.

"What are you doing?" Mineta asked.

"Nothing," Kaminari said, sweating.

"What? Did you see a ghost?"

"No, no. It's nothing, really. Can you just— give me a sec? Please?"

A little while later, Kaminari carefully walked out into the corridor. He was lucky to be alive. If Mina had bumped into him at just the wrong time, things could've gone far, far south, and fast—not just for him but for her as well. Though, the potentially detrimental encounter did leave him with one burning question: What was Mina even doing in Izuku's room in the first place? And especially right after Uraraka had left?

He decided he'd investigate it more in the morning. Her ever-growing closeness with his next door neighbor and soft-spoken classmate had been puzzling him for far too long lately, and his own inquisitiveness was starting to get on his nerves. Even though it wasn't any of his business and he knew how easily curiosity could kill the cat, he still wanted to know.

If anything, he wouldn't be the one to be killed by curiosity. It would probably be Mina.

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
**

 **A/N:** _I'm trying to get back on a regular updating schedule. It's just that as a high schooler, my life is super busy right now. (High school's really fun, by the way! I've so many new friends this year.) The next chapter is either going to be long, or kind of short (I don't know whether or not to split it up into two, since it is a big step in the story). It should be out in the next couple of weeks. Thank you guys for reading!_


	15. Ch 15 - As the Universe Rips in Half

**A/N:** _Ok I apologize in advance for the really long-ass chapter. I hate having to read long chapters on here._

 _But anyway, I hope you're all having a Merry Christmas and / or a happy holiday! Hope winter break treats you well!_

 _Okay, back to the book. I feel kind of iffy about this chapter, especially near the end. I'm worried about my wording being too choppy. But despite that, get ready for one hell of a chapter because things are about to go down. A comment / reply with any constructive criticism / feedback would be appreciated! I read every one! Thank you for reading!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Izuku was still sick on Monday, too tired to even get up to grab a glass of water and easily too sick to go to school.

Mina missed him. A lot, actually—more than she ever thought she would. Once again, she'd underestimated her feelings for him and how much they meant to her, and time and time again she would inevitably end up proving it to herself: This was more than a crush, far beyond a little name or notion like that. She'd dug herself a hole she couldn't get out of all because she had stupidly fallen in love with him.

But even if, in some sort of alternate reality, she had the power to rewind time and rewrite the past, she didn't think she would. She'd leave it all alone—she liked things just the way they were. Just the thought of having feelings for someone was enough, and it made her so, so enlivened over even the littlest of things, dwindling down to just waking up in the morning and getting ready for school. Everything was bright and beautiful and right in the world, ten times better than before, and she didn't want to give that up.

And she hadn't let go of hope, either—not one bit. In fact, she had the upper hand over Uraraka, and even though she knew how wrong it was, she wanted to keep it that way.

After dismissal at the end of her last lesson, Mina marched right through the main dorm doors, earbuds in at full volume blocking out anything and everything that could've distracted her from her one true task. She whipped out her phone the second she got a moment alone, sending Izuku something she'd wanted to say to him all day.

Sitting on the living room couch, she double-checked to make sure no one was behind her. She clicked send.

 **Hey. How are you feeling? School wasn't the same without you.**

He replied back in the blink of an eye.

 **A lot better, actually. My fever's gone down, and I just got out of bed a few hours ago. It must've been a 24-hour bug.**

He added one more thing.

 **Thanks for asking!**

She smiled dumbly down at her phone screen, sitting there speechless, knowing good and well that if anyone were to walk by right now, she would have been caught red-handed talking to somebody she surely had no business being with. But she didn't care. She couldn't have given a shit if she tried.

 **No problem. Of course I would. I care about you a lot.**

And then, just for good measure: **Like, a lot, a lot.**

"Whatcha doing?"

She jumped. Looming over the couch was Kaminari. "A-Ah, Kami, you scared me. What's up?"

"Is that Midoriya you're talking to?"

First she jumped, then she panicked. After coming to, clarity hit her harder than a blow to the back of the head, and she realised she hadn't yet hidden her phone away, leaving it still sitting there in plain sight for him to see. Covering it up with the couch cushions, she sighed, secretly, of course, hoping to God he hadn't seen something he wasn't supposed to. After all, it wouldn't have been too tough, especially since he was standing right behind her.

Ugh, why Kaminari of all people?

"Yeah. I mean, he is my friend, after all, and he missed school today," she said, trying to play it cool. "I'm just worried about him."

"Well, geez, I was just asking. No need to get defensive."

"I wasn't getting defensive."

Who was she trying to trick? She sure sounded defensive.

"Okay, well, anyway, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go for it," she replied.

"Where were you last night? Because while I was leaving Mineta's I saw you in the hallway, and if I'm not mistaken, you were walking out of Midoriya's room."

She froze.

"K-Kami, I think you might need to get your eyes checked. You must've seen Uraraka."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Because there's definitely someone else in our class who has bright pink hair and horns coming out of the top of her head."

Internally, she freaked. There wasn't any way she was getting out of this one.

"Okay, well, maybe I might've gone up there once," she said, letting a little white lie slip. "But just to see how he was doing. That's all."

"Ashido, I might be dense, but I'm not dumb."

For once in his life he'd actually seen through a lie? That was a new one.

And for the record, dense and dumb meant exactly the same thing.

Suddenly she felt mean. That wasn't very nice of her—not only to say but to even think. She was just a little annoyed that he was the first to find out and not someone she truly trusted.

"Kaminari, it's not what you think. Please don't tell anyone. Please, I'm begging you." With her puppy-dog eyes, she was able to play with his heartstrings. "And whatever you do, don't take it out on Midoriya. He didn't do anything wrong. This is just a kind of confusing situation, and I— You know what? I shouldn't even be telling you this. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten you involved."

"So it's true, then?"

"Yes. Of course it is. I'd be sick to take a joke like this that far. And, Kaminari, you'd better not tease me about it."

"No promises."

She gave him a look. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to tell Jirou _all_ about your little crush."

The color drained from his face, whittling away without warning as he went white as a ghost. "Um, nevermind. You know what? Have it your way. I was just kidding," he said, shrinking some sizes smaller.

"And this isn't only about me. You can't tell a single soul. Not a word about this to _anyone_. Got it?"

Sweat drops dripped down from the top of his temple to the crook of his collarbone and chest. "Yup."

She smiled a cheeky smile, one full of mischief and a slight bit of relief. "Okay! Sounds good to me. You keep your end of the deal and I'll keep mine."

Mina spun around, hands held firmly behind her back, and as she started to walk away, one foot in front of the other, she couldn't help but have this look of alleviation on her face. Energy in each of her steps, she skipped through the corridors and into the elevator, waiting patiently for the doors to close.

Once she was sure she was alone, she let out a sigh.

The reality of it all was that she couldn't keep up the act forever. People were beginning to suspect something, and she'd have to be naive to assume word wasn't getting around. Kaminari was one. Kirishima was a close second. Who would be third? Fourth? When would everyone else find out? When would the cat be let out of the bag?

She knew nothing. But what she did know, however, was that she couldn't wait around much longer for Izuku to man up.

In search of something, anything, to use as a distraction, she took a look at her surroundings, beige walls and maroon-colored carpets, and glanced idly down at her iPhone. Reality hit her harder than a slap on the face. She'd completely forgot that she was in the middle of a conversation with Izuku. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized she hadn't left him on read.

In response to her previous message, he'd left her with something sweet, something heartwarming. **Me too.**

 **\- o - o - o -**

Tuesday, Izuku was back at school.

Mina knew she'd missed him, but it wasn't until she saw him again that she realized the missing was more than she could've ever imagined. She'd suddenly forgotten all the nitty-gritty details and the ethicality of it all and the fact that they shouldn't have been seen together, enjoying the day for what it was for what must have been the first time in a long time.

During class, she'd made it a habit to turn around and look back at him every now and then, almost like a game of statues, or freeze tag—maybe more like freeze _dance_. Whenever she'd catch him staring, he'd blush bright red and turn away, and she'd have to hold down her laugh.

At lunch, the two of them made the probably-dumb decision to sit across from each other, Uraraka next to Izuku. Mina couldn't help but have this feeling, this intuition, like she knew she was doing something wrong, something horribly, horribly wrong, but despite her best efforts to hide it, the fact that it was eating away at her was like a smear, a smack across her face. She tried to forget it for now and toss it to the back of her mind. At first she found it difficult, but she was eventually able to swallow her pride. She knew things could go south—and fast—but she was willing to take that risk. There was something about him, something about the way he made her feel that left her weak, ready to surrender and succumb to her desires.

Mina had never used footsies as a flirting technique, and she certainly hadn't ever done it with a boy. Izuku was the same, only ever having played the game with his mother when he was a little kid. But, probably stupidly, like almost all of the choices they'd made in these past few weeks, they decided to do it anyway, right there under the lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria, praying to God that Uraraka wouldn't notice. Mina slid Izuku's pant leg up with her toe, and he grabbed hold of her whole foot with both of his. She almost gasped, but she remembered Uraraka was right close by and she shouldn't have made a sound.

They continued like that for the rest of the lunch break. Every once and a while he would stop whenever Uraraka turned to talk to him, probably out of respect. She understood. She didn't fault him for that. In fact, she applauded him. But part of her hated it, knowing he was nowhere near ready to tell her the truth, and she couldn't deny the fact that at this rate, he probably never would be.

 **\- o - o - o -**

After school, Mina was walking through the corridors with Kaminari and Kirishima when she suddenly realized she'd forgotten something. And when she said something, she meant everything. "I'll be right back," she mumbled, spinning back around and racing toward the classroom at an unprecedented speed, even for her. She felt silly. How could she have left without any of her books or binders?

Out of breath, she turned the corner into the doorway. She wasn't expecting to see Izuku.

She smiled. "Hey, Midori. What are you doing here?"

"I forgot to grab my makeup work from Mr. Aizawa, so I guess I'm getting it now. He kinda just gave it to me and then left. I'm actually pretty surprised. There isn't much."

"Yeah, I mean, we didn't really do anything yesterday. Or, at least, I didn't."

She headed over to her desk and pulled out an abundance of notebooks and folders she'd apparently left inside, watching them all fall to the floor. She was wondering why her backpack was so light. Half of her stuff wasn't in it.

"What about you? Why are you here?" he asked.

"Oh, just casually left my entire backpack in my desk. Dumbass move, don't you think?"

"Sounds like something I'd do."

She rolled her eyes. "Um, no, Midori, you're the kind of person who would do the exact _opposite_ , and you know it. Looks like I know you better than you know yourself."

He sighed, sitting down in his chair. He unzipped his backpack and put away his worksheets and wrote down what he needed to remember in his reminders. She would die to be as organized as him, but at the same time she didn't seem to care. She liked not having to stress out about everything.

Walking over to the desk beside him, she grabbed the chair out from underneath it and inched it into his vicinity, spinning it around on its back legs. She scooched it all the way up so that the backrest of her chair was leaning against the backrest of his, legs skidding and screeching against the gray granite floor, the bars on the backs of the chairs touching one another like vertebrate on a spine. She laid her knees where she would usually sit down and sat up, wrapping her arms around him and startling him from behind.

"A-Ashido."

"I didn't scare you, did I?"

He turned around, scratching the side of his cheek. "A little."

"You don't mind, do you? You don't mind me doing this?"

"No. Well, I mean, _I_ don't, but other people might..."

She sighed, subtly smiling at his sorrow. It was worthless to waste his time worrying. After all, unless he was ready to tell Uraraka, who needed to know? "Midori, we don't have to worry about other people. Not right now. We're alone."

"But that doesn't make it any less wrong."

Her smile fell, lips turning down at the corners. "I know."

"It was a close call at lunch today," he said, suddenly changing the subject.

"Yeah. Uraraka looked under the table one two many times."

He sighed, and it wasn't too hard to hear the exasperation in his voice. "Ashido, I feel bad even talking about this. It feels wrong."

She stood up and gave his shoulders a squeeze. "Me too. I get it, y'know. It's been eating away at me lately." His muscles were tense; he needed a massage. "And… Midoriya, Uraraka needs to know. If you don't tell her soon, I'll have to do it myself."

He pried her off of him, suddenly needing some space. "Listen, Ashido, I'm trying. It's just… Uraraka and I have been friends forever, and I don't know if I'm ready to give that up. I know it's the right thing to do, but I'm scared."

She tilted her head, looking at him with eyes filled with wonder. "But, Midori, you're training to become a _Hero_. Heroes don't get scared."

"Yes they do. They just don't show it."

Her arms were once again around him, holding him tight, hands hanging loosely over his collarbone and the crook of his neck. She squinted her eyes and friskily fluttered her eyelashes, hoping he would notice. "Oh, well isn't that deep?"

He craned his neck back, bright green eyes meeting yellow and black sclera. They both blushed.

"It is. Maybe a little too deep, actually. I don't really like this conversation anymore."

"Neither do I," she said.

"Ashido, can I ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"Well… Um, how do I put this… I guess, on a scale of one to ten, if you had to give it a rating, how much would you say you like me?"

She let out a little bit of laughter, her nervousness nothing to hide. "Midori, you can't put me on the spot like that."

"I know, a-and I'm sorry. I just wanted to, y'know, maybe get a general idea, I guess."

She shook her head. "I can't rate something like that. It's not right."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not?" He was used to thinking of things numerically, giving almost anything and everything a rating or a rank. It helped him keep track of things, make sense of mystifying emotions and the more confusing concepts in life.

"Because it's just, I don't know, too important for that. And something as simple as a number doesn't tell the whole truth. Here, let's just say this: it's well, well over ten."

She buried her face in the nape of his neck, hoping to God he wouldn't bother looking back at her. He'd see nothing but lavender and lilac.

To spare her any more embarrassment, she decided she'd throw his own inquiry right back at him. "How about you? How do you feel about me?"

She barely even opened one eye, glancing at the tips of his ears and wishing she'd see red, knowing that if she did she certainly must've made him at least a little bit flustered. She smiled. She was glad she'd gotten under his skin. "See? It isn't so easy, now is it?"

"Ten."

"Hmm?" He'd said it far too fast for her understanding.

"Ten," he repeated.

She blinked once. Twice. A third time. "Really?"

"Yup."

"You too, huh?"

"Yeah."

Words couldn't express how happy she was over such a big bombshell. And even though she didn't know it right then, Izuku was feeling the same.

They stayed like that for a little while longer until the clock hit a quarter past four and it'd been half an hour since the rest of the class had gone back to the dorms. People would wonder where they were.

Izuku was the first to say something, the first to call it quits. He left five minutes prior to when she did, coming up with some lame excuse that he needed to finish a quiz he had dumbly decided not to make up before Finals. Mina's alibi was that she was getting tutoring lessons at the library. Nobody seemed to question anything except Kaminari.

But little did she know, Kirishima was just as suspicious as he was. If not even more so.

Mina was about to throw her dirty laundry in the washing machine when she felt somebody grab onto her arm. Spinning around, she came face to face with Kirishima.

"K-Kiri, don't scare me like that. You're doing that way too often lately."

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking down at the ground. "But"—he picked his head up—"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"Well, it's about you and Midoriya. I saw you hugging him earlier, and it just made me wonder: are you guys more than friends?"

She stood there stunned. Her secret was spilling for her, and she didn't even have to try. "Um, w-well, it's kinda complicated. The short answer is yes, but there's more to it than that."

Mina felt comfortable enough to tell all this to him, much more so than she ever could've been with Kaminari. When she looked at Kirishima, she saw something different. He was one of her best friends, and she trusted him not only with her deepest, darkest secrets, but also almost every aspect of her life. She was still a little on edge, though, knowing this was getting harder and harder to hide.

"What do you mean it's 'different?'"

"It just is, Kiri. It's hard to break news like that to Uraraka. We're working on it. We're not getting all… touchy with each other and stuff."

"Sure looked like it."

"We're not!"

"Okay, okay," he said, catching the drift that today was definitely not the day to get on her bad side. She was seconds away from snapping. "Whatever you say."

"Just, what am I doing wrong, Kiri? Why is everyone just now figuring this out? Did I give it away somehow?"

"No, Ashido, it's not like that. Remember how earlier you just up and ran and said you'd 'be right back?' Well, when I didn't see you for a few minutes, I went back to check on you, and that's when I saw."

She gritted her teeth, wincing all the while as she'd bit the tip of her tongue. "Ugh, why is this happening to me? Soon enough it'll get around to the whole school, and then to Uraraka, and then… I don't even want to think about that."

"Am I not the only one?"

"No. Kaminari knows too."

"Oh, that's bad," Kirishima said, a sharp inhale budding at the back of his throat. "He can't his mouth shut."

"I know," she said flatly, finally finding the time to throw her horribly heavy pile of laundry into the wash. She could barely feel her arms anymore. "I'm kinda screwed here."

"But, what I don't get is why you don't think this is wrong."

She turned toward him, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Hmm?"

"You being with Midoriya while he's supposedly dating Uraraka. How is that not wrong to you? I'm your friend, Ashido, so I'm gonna be honest. There's this thing called cheating. You're doing it right now."

She gave him a look. "Gee, thanks for enlightening me. I didn't know."

He gave her a look right back. "Ashido."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Getting sarcastic in serious situations. I really need to stop doing that."

"Yeah, you do."

She took a deep breath. "Kiri, can I rant to you real quick?"

He nodded.

"You don't have to tell me twice. I know it's wrong. But, it's hard, because I'm in love with him, and… I'm pretty sure he's in love with me too." She waved her hands frantically in front of her face. "And I'm not trying to get ahead of myself! I know I sounded a little full of myself right there, assuming things, but I can just kinda tell. I really hope he loves me, at least."

Kirishima couldn't contain his laughter. "It didn't sound that way at all. Keep going."

"So, yeah, it's just kind of hard, I guess. He really, really doesn't want to be doing what he's doing, and neither do I. It's hurting me, watching Uraraka be oblivious to all of this. Killing me, even, and I don't know how much more of this I can take."

She held her hand to her heart, tears brimming beneath what would be the whites of her eyes. Kirishima sighed. "Mina, if it's hurting you this much, maybe being with Midoriya isn't the right move."

Kirishima was her person, the friend she'd never had. She was really lucky to have him, but a lot of the time he said _the_ stupidest things, and she wanted to slap him square in the face. "No. It is. I wouldn't give him and I up for the world. I know it's right; it just feels right. It's worth fighting for, Kiri, and I'm not just gonna give that up. It's not like there are issues between us, but rather other people, and all we need to do is get those cleared up and everything will be alright."

"'All we need to do,'" he scoffed, a sense of scorn in his overly sarcastic expression. "As if it'll be that easy. You know it's not gonna be."

She glared at him, disappointment strewn across her face, and lately she thought such an emotion had been stuck to her like glue. "Thanks."

"Mina, look at me."

"Wow, that's a new one. You never call me Mina."

"I thought it was about time," he said, smiling. He grabbed her by the cheeks. "Listen here. You're gonna figure it out, okay? It's all gonna work itself out. Just give it a little more time, try to reason with Midoriya, and work from there. Just, whatever you do, don't lose sleep over it. It's gonna turn out fine."

She searched his ruby red eyes for at least a little bit of truth, coming to the realization that if he was simply saying so to make her feel better, he was doing a hell of a good job at making it believable. And if he was telling a lie, he was either doing it just right or she was a little more dense than most. He believed the words that were coming out of his mouth just as much as she did.

She smiled. "Thanks, Eijirou."

"That one's new, too."

"Yup."

Mina walked out with the laundry still running, starving for something to eat. A little jarred and lost in thought, she rammed right into Hagakure.

"Toru, hey."

"You and Kirishima sure have been getting close, huh?"

Mina groaned. She had begun to get a little annoyed by Hagakure's over the top, unnecessary teasing, especially when Kirishima was already confirmed to be out of the picture—and because of a guy, no less. Sometimes she wished she could just tell her the truth to shut her up, but she knew she could never do that to Kirishima because of all of the times he'd had her back. She'd never stoop low.

"Kiri and I aren't like that."

"You sure? You two seem a little chummy lately."

Mina looked over her shoulder at the boy in question, who was hearing everything leaving Hagakure's lips and eyeing her with one eyebrow raised. She turned back around. "Yes, I'm sure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry. I'm gonna grab something to eat."

She pushed her invisible friend out of the way and wandered into the kitchen, sighing something of both relief and a bit of bitterness. Everything was all too stressful lately, too many problems without resolutions. Sometimes, on days she wasn't thinking straight, she wished she could just forget about all of the stupid stuff Izuku wanted and take matters into her own hands, but usually, at least, she'd end up putting it past her—she knew it was a bad idea.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Later that evening, a little while after a mostly microwavable dinner, the majority of Class 1-A was crowded around on the couches in the living room, sitting there wasting away idly. Nobody knew what to do with their free time—having no homework wasn't part of their norm, nor was it something they were used to having to handle. What were they to do except be bored and scroll through their phones?

"Hey, I have an idea," Sero started. "Anyone wanna play a game?"

"What kind of game?" Tokoyami had a certain nullness in his voice.

Sero shrugged. "Well, uh, I don't really know. I was gonna leave that up to everyone else."

Hagakure, her usual bubbly self, hopped right into the conversation, no holds barred. She gasped. "Oh, I know! How about Truth or Dare? Or, better yet, Spin the Bottle?"

The boys looked back at each other, the girls lighting up with glee. Mina was the first to open her mouth. "Spin the Bottle sounds fun. I don't know about Truth or Dare."

"What's wrong with Truth or Dare? I happen to like it," Uraraka said.

The boys put in their two cents, Kirishima standing up to be their spokesperson. "I don't know. Aren't these the kinds of games middle schoolers play?"

"So? We were middle schoolers just last year," Mina mentioned, excitement written all over her face. There was something innocent and pure about playing Truth or Dare, Spin the Bottle, something childish. It made her feel young again. "Here, how about this. We play Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle first, and then we do whatever the boys want to do. We have the next two hours to ourselves, after all."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. But we aren't playing your games for longer than an hour," Kirishima said.

"Deal."

Starting off with Spin the Bottle, they decided to save the least interesting of the two, Truth or Dare, for later. Coming to a collective conclusion, they decided a kiss on the cheek was enough for now, a kiss on the lips a little too intimate.

It was a bit of a mess—girls kissing girls, boys (begrudgingly) kissing boys. But the good parts were worth it, just as much good as the bad parts were bad. Girls kissing guys, guys kissing girls they found cute. In the end, Mina had only kissed three: Hagakure, Todoroki, and Kirishima, the last, especially, resulting in lots of oohs and aahs.

When Midoriya kissed Asui, only on the cheek, even, both she and Uraraka got jealous.

They really both were the jealous type.

Thirty minutes in, they decided to call it quits on such a stupid game, bringing it immediately to a halt. It was about time they played Truth or Dare, and Mina was a lot more scared for this than she was for Spin the Bottle, knowing her friends could easily pull whatever kind of sly tricks they wanted. They could even make her admit her feelings for Izuku, and she knew how horribly wrong that could go in every which way.

As the night went on, the questions progressively got more and more in depth, in detail, maybe even in a little too deep, drowning their interviewees in an onslaught of embarrassment and shame. With everyone watching, Mina no longer wondered why everyone felt so high-strung and stressed out, revealing their darkest secrets to people they weren't exactly the best of friends with nor whom they wanted to know. When would she be the one? When would she be that person, the one getting sucked dry of anything and everything she wanted to hide? Time would only tell.

Eventually, after a slew of slanderous truths and disastrously detestable dares, Hagakure decided—after half an hour of little to no action—it was finally time for Mina to steal the stage. "Ashido," she started, a certain slyness in her voice, "why don't you… kiss the boy who you think is cutest in this room."

Mina froze. "What?"

"You heard me. Whether or not he's your crush or just someone you like, kiss the cutest boy in this room."

She paused. "Um, where? The lips?"

"The cheek's fine. A kiss on the lips would be preferable, though."

Mina's heart hammered heavily through her chest, her breath catching in the back of her throat as sweat began to collect on her overly acidic skin. She wasn't sure what to think, what to do. She thought for a moment, and she came to the conclusion that she could either do one of two things. Whichever it would be was based on how much bravery she was willing to muster.

Today was one of those days when she was feeling particularly brave.

She gulped, stood up. "Okay."

She looked over at Kirishima, and then at Midoriya. She glanced away, doing her best to draw the attention elsewhere, anywhere but on her. And then, if only out of instinct, she turned toward Hagakure, whose face was lit up with so much glee she thought she was about to explode, and she contemplated going right over there and giving her a piece of her mind, but she decided at that very moment that wasn't the greatest idea.

Her mind was racing at a million miles per hour, and for what wasn't the first time in her life she wasn't quite sure what choice was the right one to make. With Midoriya to her right and Kirishima to her left, she took one slight step with her left foot out first, indecisive over whether or not it was the right thing to do. She took another step to the left, but then she thought, _No. If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this right._

And so she took one step to the right. And then another.

She'd noticed the looks on her friends' faces, the watchful eyes they'd had on her for quite a while now, and she no longer cared what anyone else thought. She was either going all out, or she wasn't going out at all.

And so she sped up the pace, the perplexed look on Hagakure's face nothing new to her nor surprising. Once she reached Midoriya, she timidly tied her hands behind her back, looking down at the ground with shame and regret and a number of other unnamed emotions in her eyes, her uneasiness undoubtedly unveiled in big bold letters for all the world to see. She knew she'd made a mistake. She had. She knew she had. But it was too late to turn back now.

Midoriya stared up at her wide-eyed. He didn't exactly know what he was expecting, but it sure wasn't this. She was so forward about it, like she wasn't about to screw up everything by doing what she'd inevitably decided to do. When she stood up, he'd expected her to walk right over to Kirishima and give him a quick kiss on the cheek, fulfilling the fantasies of all of her classmates.

But instead he found her here, standing over him and giving him this look, like she knew she'd fucked up but had absolutely no idea how to fix it.

His face flushed. He couldn't process all of this. It was all happening too fast.

She kneeled down on her knees, and still, no words were exchanged between them. No words were exchanged between anyone. The silence was almost agonizing.

Hagakure sat their stunned, at a complete loss for words, her mouth agape and her eyes wider than ever before, though she was the only one who knew. Midoriya side-eyed Uraraka, her face pale, and he wondered if she was hoping, praying, maybe as much as he was, that Mina would say psych right now and fess up to the fact that it was all a prank.

And he wasn't wrong. She couldn't help but hold onto that last bit of hope.

Uraraka wasn't sure what to think, what to feel, whether or not she was in the midst of an unspeakably horrible nightmare or really just wide awake, living that backwards and upside down reality herself. Who was she supposed to be mad at, and for what? Was it just one sided, or were Mina and him more than friends?

Surely he'd end up saying it was one sided. It had to be.

With little regard to the usually-air headed-but-now-panicky girl sitting next to her, Mina coyly placed a hand on the nape of Izuku's neck, her thumb on his jawline, the suppleness of his skin nothing she'd have ever spited or said no to. Leaning in, she closed the distance between the two of them until there were only inches left between their lips, whispering "I'm sorry" softly in his ear. He heard, but he didn't listen. He was too much in shock.

In what was only just a moment, she managed to place her lips on his and leave him at a total and utter loss for words, a loss for what to say or what to do or even what to think and what to feel. She'd closed her eyelids long before initiating the kiss, but little did she know, he was staring right back at her with some of the widest eyes she would've ever seen, unable to communicate his feelings any other way. He couldn't use his mouth, after all.

After five vigorously long seconds, she pulled away.

"I-I think I'm gonna go," Uraraka said, standing up, a tear trickling down her cheek.

As she walked, almost ran, toward the elevator, Izuku called out to her, still in shambles. "U-Uraraka, wait. Please—"

But Uraraka didn't wait. She didn't even hesitate. She waited for the elevator doors to open up for her to carry her to the fourth floor, Yaoyorozu and Asui both hurriedly trying to catch up with her before she did anything rash, anything she'd regret. Even Mina didn't wish that upon her, one of the kindest souls she knew. Of course she didn't; Uraraka was her friend.

Izuku gave Mina a look, a not so nice look, a look that let her know this wasn't going to be as easy of a fix as "I'm sorry." She deserved this. She knew. She knew this was how it'd end up long before she made the stupid decision to do it in the first place. She knew she'd fucked up, and she knew she was screwed, and she knew now that he was screwed as well all because of something she'd done, something he didn't deserve.

Lately she'd just been so caught up in her feelings, and her anger had been building up at him. It must have just caught up with her.

Speaking of which, her heart was pounding out of her chest right now. Out of the suspense of it all or the exhilaration, she wasn't quite sure. She kind of liked it, kind of hated it.

She hated it a lot more than she liked it.

"W-Well, um, I think we should probably end this here. How about it?" Kirishima asked, trying his best to make things a little less awkward but barely even breaking the tiniest bit of the tension. In fact, he hadn't even scratched the surface.

Everyone nodded.

Hagakure wasn't giving in so easily, though. She wanted answers. "I— Mina, I could've sworn you liked Kirishima."

On the verge of tears, Mina was the most defensive she'd ever been, the most angry. "Why? Why would you think that? I told you numerous times I don't like him, didn't I? Besides, he's—"

She stopped herself short.

"He's what?"

"He's— He's nothing."

She turned toward Kirishima, who, alongside whom she'd already angered, was also giving her the evil eye, a death glare like no other. She was so embarrassed, so ashamed. She didn't know where to look.

The accountability of her actions was finally starting to set in. Izuku didn't say a word to her, and neither did Kirishima. Not for the next little while, at least, and she knew for certain she'd really royally fucked up this time, way beyond repair. Now how was she supposed to make up for this mess?

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

 **A/N:** _Okay, so all in all, I don't know how I feel about that ending. Was it too cliche? Too dramatic or not dramatic enough? Was it just all around bad or an okay way to reach a climax? If anyone has any feedback please let me know, and thank you all for your support!_


	16. Chapter 16 - Lost in Outer Space

**A/N:** _Hi, all! I hope winter break treated you well. Midterms are currently coming up for me, so the next chapter might take a little longer than I'd expect to complete. I'm really nervous, actually. I've never had a big test like this, unless you count the few I had in eighth grade._

 _Anyway, I'm really proud of this chapter. It's a little low on action, but I think that's understandable. There's a lot of problem solving and dialogue. Let me know how you guys feel in the reviews. Actually, I don't think I've said this yet: thank you all so much for the favorites and the follows and the reviews. I really, really appreciated it, and would've never expected this story to blow up!  
_ **  
\- o - o - o - o -  
**  
When the elevator doors opened up, Asui was the first to get off, Jirou trailing just a few faint footsteps behind. Halfway down the hall was Uraraka, hiding her face behind her bangs as she hurriedly slipped through her dorm room door, trying her best to be sly, not to be seen by anyone. But that wasn't stopping Asui, an Asui so overly adamant and overcome with emotion that she'd do anything for her friend as she knew she needed her now, needed her more than ever. She knocked and knocked and knocked until her knuckles hurt, turning white around the edges and beginning to blister bright red, the pain almost unbearable.

"Ochako, ribbit, we just wanna talk. It's me, Tsuyu, and Kyoka's here too. We don't know what's going on, either. We're just here to help, ribbit. Please, you seem upset."

Uraraka buried her face in her bed sheets, Asui's prodding almost painful to hear. She wasn't ready to open up. She was confused, alone, unsure of anything she felt, unsure of anything Izuku felt. Was he just playing around with her, or was Mina the one making the mess?

Of course, she'd never expect something so vile, so heartless out of such a sweet boy like Izuku. He was her ride or die, her day one, whether he was in love with her or not, and she wouldn't have it any other way. One of the kindest boys she'd ever met, she'd never imagine him doing such a thing.

And so this entire ordeal came as a bit of a shock to her.

"Ochako, open up, will you? We're here for you, you know. We just wanna make sure you're okay." It was Jirou this time.

So, her desire for answers too strong, she hopped up out of bed and let the two of them in, tear-soaked eyes gone from once-prettily-white to deep red.

Asui didn't hesitate to hug her, and it was at that moment that Uraraka let it all out, the little hiccups to the big cries and the wailing, Asui's favorite pair of pajamas stained with salty tears that'd inevitably ended up trickling down the side of her shirt in consequence of going out of her way to comfort her. But she didn't care, and neither did Jirou, as she joined in immediately after, bringing Uraraka in close.

Jirou was conflicted, unsure of what was the right way to feel. Part of her thought she should have been downstairs with Mina, comforting who was one of her best friends, but she wasn't exactly sure what was going on between her and Izuku—especially after that kiss—and even though she loved Mina, she had a feeling she was the one who fucked it up. She really did have a tendency to do that. She didn't try to, and she was an incredible, vibrant kind of person, but she couldn't keep a secret to save her life, nor could she hide her feelings forever, often letting them slip far too early resulting in a crisis such as the one befolding before her.

"I don't understand," Uraraka started, a stutter bubbling up in the back of her throat. "Why'd Mina have to do that? Couldn't she have just kept quiet?"

"I agree," Asui croaked. "It's not fair to you, ribbit. But we'll never know what she's feeling until we ask. We don't know the whole story, ribbit. Maybe she had a reason for doing what she did."

"It's just killing me, Tsu. I don't know if Deku likes her back or… or anything! Nothing! I don't have a clue."

Asui shrugged. Jirou's shoulders stiffened, unable to hide the inevitable—she knew that they knew. They knew she knew far more than she was letting on.

"Kyoka, ribbit, do you know something?"

"Well, um, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think Mina might just be in love with him, too, Ochako. The way she looks at him and talks about him kind of gives it away." Her eyes widened, suddenly feeling as if she were taking sides. She wasn't. She was as neutral as neutral could be. But she wasn't sure if she was ready for Uraraka to know that, especially with Asui so clearly sticking up for her and rooting for her cause. And she didn't blame her; Mina's ideals were a little immoral. "B-But I don't know what Midoriya's feeling! I don't really talk to him, so, um, it'd be impossible for me to know."

That was a bit of a lie—Jirou knew. She'd had an inkling they were more than friends for quite a while now, just hadn't tied the knot yet.

Asui was the first to let go. "Ocha, ribbit, you need to talk to him."

Without a shoulder to cry on, Ochako felt barren, naked, her emotions instantly out there for all the world to see. She was suddenly so self-conscious. She leaned back into Asui, unable to look anywhere else but at her. "I-I know, but I'm scared. He's gonna tell me he likes her, Tsu. He's gonna tell me he likes Mina."

Jirou, tired of Uraraka's sorry, sour attitude, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward her, finally letting the two to see eye to eye. "Listen, Ochako. You're being a baby. You're stronger than this. All you gotta do is talk to him, and if he really is two-timing you with another girl, he doesn't deserve you. But you don't know that yet. Now stop being all sad and go figure it out for yourself before you start making all these assumptions."

Uraraka wiped her cheeks dry, eyes suddenly losing their sorrowful shimmer. A few lasting tears dribbled down her cheeks and her chin, staining her once-dry skin and leaving her with nothing but a pure and innocent face. She felt new, fresh. "Kyoka, you're a lifesaver, you know that? Both of you are."

She brought the two of them in for a hug, coming together as one and leaving sorrow and sadness in their wake.

 **\- o - o - o -**

"Midoriya."

"What? What do you want?"

"Can we talk? Please, I— I want to explain."

Izuku craned his neck back, Mina's fingertips holding onto the hem of his shirt harder than she ever had before. His classmates were busying themselves with other things, no longer necessarily paying attention to him. He'd been in the limelight for quite some time now, everyone a bit shaken up from recent events, but thankfully the buzz was beginning to wear off, as people had started to stop approaching him left and right.

"What, Ashido? What's there to explain?" he said, suddenly toning it down a notch. He realized that after all that'd happened, he was probably coming at her a bit too hard, being a bit brutal by not hearing her out. "You went off and did"—he blushed bright red—" _that_ , which totally screwed up the relationship I had with Uraraka, or whatever was going on between us, and now what am I supposed to tell her? I was working up the nerve, okay? You only gave me three days."

A vein popped, Mina gearing up to go off on him, scold him for his own idiocy. "Stop lying to yourself, Midoriya. You weren't gonna tell her, and you know that." She poked her pointer finger in the center of his chest, prodding once, twice, three times. "You don't need me to get that through to you. You'll just never accept it.

And you're trying to tell me that you and Ochako had a relationship? If so, it fell apart pretty quickly, I guess. What, were you really just playing around with my feelings, too? Which one of us do you want, Midoriya? Pick one. You can't have both."

"You, Ashido. I-It's you, and it's always been you. You know that, you know that good and well, so stop questioning it. The issue here has nothing to do with that or Uraraka's and my relationship. It's why you can't keep a secret to save your life."

Where was sweet Izuku, sweet like sugary sherbert and cinnamon and strawberry shortcake, the Izuku she loved? The Izuku standing before her was making her sad, making her want to cry. A hitch could be heard in her voice. "I know," she sighed. "I can't keep my mouth shut, I know. Say it again, why don't you? But at the rate you were going I would've had to keep quiet forever, and you and I both know I couldn't do that. What we were doing was already wrong. Now imagine if we'd dragged it on."

Izuku was relentless. "Yeah, sure, but you didn't have to do it in front of everyone. That was my first… my first…"

She covered her mouth. "Oh. Um, I— I had no idea."

"Yeah. Why? Was it not yours?"

"No. I kinda kissed a guy in middle school."

"Oh."

With a reaction like that, she felt she owed him an explanation. "It wasn't a big deal! It was our third year and all, and we weren't dating for long, and it just kinda happened. We broke up not long after. It was quick. And bad, if I'm being honest."

She couldn't help but notice his eyebrows were furrowed, nose all wrinkled and scrunched up, lips turned down into a frown. She was only serving to make things worse. It would've been easier if she'd just kept her mouth shut. "Okay," he said, sighing slightly, the slow exhale in his last breath killing her, the kicker when she was already down.

She held onto the hem of his shirt. "Midori, what're we gonna do?" she said, a certain nullness, calmness in her voice she hadn't had before.

"I don't know, Ashido. Sounds like a you problem."

"Wow."

He looked back at her. "What?"

"Are you kidding me?" She pulled tighter on such a thin fabric, the only way she knew to get his attention, nails digging in the back of his skin. "What's wrong with you? Where's the Midoriya I like? The one whose sweet and kind and doesn't say stuff like that, stuff to make me feel bad. Asshole move, you know."

"Ashido, I'm just— I'm just confused, okay? And overwhelmed." A tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm sorry, and I know that's not an excuse. I'm acting like a jerk, I know. Just, can I have some space? We're not working out anything by being like this."

And so she abided by his wishes. "Okay," she said, and as he brought up his hand to wipe his face dry, she knew too that nothing was going to come out of continuously battering back and forth at each other, both clearly too stubborn to back down. They needed some time alone. Maybe some time to talk to Uraraka, even.

Mina headed upstairs while Izuku stayed down. She felt a little awkward, Uraraka's dorm just down the hallway, but she decided for now she'd ignore that fact and not stir up any trouble.

As soon as the door was shut, she plopped down onto her bed, burying her head beneath her pillow and wanting nothing more than to cry, bathe in a bath full of her own tears. This happened sometimes—she'd be in desperate need of letting it all out, letting the waterworks flow freely, but she wouldn't be able to, like something was stopping her, like even though she felt she had all of these emotions building up, she couldn't seem to let them go. They were just stuck in this void, trapped in her mind with nowhere and no one to turn to. And then, eventually, with the worst possible timing, she'd finally reach her breaking point—an outlet for her anger and frustration and sadness and sorrow—and she'd cry and cry and cry until her eyes would run dry.

This was apparently one of those times.

It was half an hour after sneaking downstairs for a shower that she all of a sudden just released, breaking down on the cold hardwood tiles of her tattered and tired bedroom floor. Why? She didn't know. Just one thought about this mess she'd made set her off. One intrusive intuition about all of her negative qualities, the ones that'd gotten her sucked into such a pitiful situation in the first place, had led her here, wailing with her head in her hands and her knees freezing off on the floor of an overly air conditioned room, especially for the start of spring. She didn't have the dedication to go over and turn it off.

She began to mumble to herself, call herself names: bitch, dumbass, idiot, asshole, and the list went on.

She knew she didn't deserve this. She was human; humans made mistakes. You'd have to be a fool not to believe such a thing. But this was one mistake humans—nobody—should've made. These were easily the most reprehensible kinds of mistakes, the most shamed. And she didn't blame anyone for that. What she'd done was wrong—really, really wrong, and she regretted it and beat herself up over it up until she could no longer hear about it without wanting to wince woefully in pain—but that also didn't mean something as simple as an apology would fix it, either. She wasn't getting out of this easily.

Not that she wanted to. She wanted to make things right, address the dilemma head-on, the way it should've been addressed a long time ago—and maybe if she had done that in the first place, she wouldn't be stuck in this absurd position right now.

 _But how?_ she thought. _Where do I begin?_ She was utterly dumbfounded, completely clueless.

A knock at her door sounded her awake.

She wiped her eyes dry, standing up slowly, one foot at a time, hoping that maybe in savoring those last few seconds, her face would get a little less red and it'd become a little less obvious that she'd been crying. The last thing she wanted was to look like she was pitying herself over something that she'd done.

Upon turning the doorknob, Jirou could be seen standing a little impatiently outside the doorway. "Can I come in?" she asked.

Mina smiled, suddenly caring a lot less about her physical appearance. Jirou was someone she could trust. "Sure," she said, closing the door behind her.

Jirou took one deep breath in and one deep breath out. "Mina. What in God's name were you _thinking_?"

She began bawling. "Kyoka, I don't know. I-I regret it, I really do, and I wish I could go back and fix it but I can't!" Before she could say anymore, Jirou had her arms around her, pulling her in close. Mina stood surprised for a second before relaxing into her shoulders, crying a bit more. "Kyoka, I— I screwed up."

"Mina, It's okay. Yeah, you did, but everybody does it. I just want to know what happened. I was at Ochako's earlier and she wouldn't tell me a thing. Everyone's confused, y'know."

"Ochako's? Was she talking about me?"

Jirou gave her a look. "Mina, you know that's none of your business. For Ochako's sake."

All of a sudden she started sobbing, crying once more. "Kyoka, I'm sorry for always being so nosy and talking so much and always getting in the middle of everything. A-And I know I can't keep a secret, and I'm so, so sorry for screwing everything up, and if I've ever done anything to hurt you in the past, I—"

"Mina, you're fine. It's all fine. It's gonna be okay. I'm here for you, and I love you, and even though this might be one of your… worst, most memorable screwups, you have so, so many positive points about you to outweigh it: You're funny, friendly, great at helping others. You're a great Hero, too. You just gotta talk this out with people and maybe take away some of the tension and find a way to get over it, and it'll all be alright."

"I love you, you know that?"

"Yes, I know," Jirou smiled, cheeks rosy red. "Now, would you mind telling me what happened exactly so I can give you some advice?"

And so Mina rehashed each bit of the story from beginning to end, minus some of the miniscule details, starting with when she was teaching him how to slow dance all the way up until they were more than just friends to when she decided it'd be a bright idea to kiss him in front of the entirety of Class 1-A during some dumb game of Truth or Dare. She realized how silly it sounded out loud, how stupid she was for sticking up for herself. It was time to face the facts: she was the fool. Not Izuku, not Uraraka, not anybody else. Only her.

"Sounds like you need to talk to Ochako. She's the most confused. Midoriya knows what's going on; he can wait. The issue is with her."

Mina groaned. "Kyoka, I'm scared. She's gonna murder me."

Fed up with Mina feigning fear, Jirou crossed her arms, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she'll be mad—that's a given. But there's nothing you can do about that. You screwed up. You're gonna have to face the consequences. Don't talk to her and she'll lose all respect for you."

"So what do I do? Call her? Talk to her in person?"

"I'd start over the phone, in case things don't go well. You can hold off on Midoriya for a while. He probably needs time to cool off. Let me ask you one thing: Do you want to be with him? Do you want to start a relationship?"

"Yes!"

And Mina knew she'd have to hop over huge hurdles to even stand a chance at winning him back, but she wanted it more than anything. She knew now that she was in a compromising position, a position that could easily lead Izuku to leave his feelings by the wayside and forget about them entirely, but she still wanted to try. She wasn't giving up, not until it was certain. They could work. Even though it was messy, it might work.

"Okay, then you're gonna have to apologize. Explain yourself and everything you're feeling to each of them, no holds barred. At the very least they'll respect you, and there's a chance they'll forgive you as well."

Mina brought Jirou back into her benevolent embrace, missing the most comforting feeling of having someone to hold, the warmth it brought her incomparable to anything else. Her skin was soft, silky, milky white. It was a bit of a contrast from Izuku's rough patches and scabrous scars, but she liked it anyway, just as much.

"I love you, Kyoka. I love you a whole lot."

Jirou held down her laugh. "I love you too."

Eventually, she made her way out of Mina's room, leaving Mina to figure the rest out for herself. In her hand she held her phone, staring helplessly down at Uraraka's contact. Hands shaking, she typed, **Hey. I really want to talk to you about this, either in person or on FaceTime. I understand if you're not ready. Just shoot me a text when you get this, and let me know if you're down to talk.**

After reading it over a few times, she pressed send.

Uraraka was quick to respond. **I'll FaceTime you. Give me a sec.**

All of a sudden, Mina's phone was ringing—once, twice, three, four times—and then the realization set in: Uraraka was on the other line. Taking a deep breath, Mina double-checked that Uraraka wouldn't be able to see her face quite yet and reluctantly took the call.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Izuku wasn't used to getting so many mean looks. Mineta was a main source, Kaminari and Kirishima a close second. All he wanted to do was to be able to relax on the couch without hearing his name for once, for every which corner he would turn there would be someone whispering something subtle or glancing his way.

He hadn't treated himself to ice cream once in the last three weeks. He usually tried to keep a relatively balanced diet, lots of fruits and vegetables and a variety of different kinds of fish, but today, he thought, could be a cheat day. He needed it more than most.

He couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. It'd been his first, and he had next to no time to prepare, and part of him couldn't get mad at Mina for it because in reality, he really, really liked it, even though he wasn't supposed to. He assumed it'd brought a lot pain to Uraraka, though, judging by her reaction, and he couldn't let himself get elated over something like that.

And Mina. Oh, Mina. What was he supposed to do with her? He couldn't get her out of his head. A mush of emotions—anger, irritation, guilt, confusion, devotion—were mixing around in his mind, stirring up the pot, and he wasn't sure what, if any, was the right one to feel. Granted, he sure did build up a lot of irritability, and he should've, since she screwed up his love life and his relationship with Uraraka and probably lost a lot of respect from his classmates, people who were most important to him, but he also couldn't help feeling regret, too. Why hadn't he just manned up, told Uraraka the truth? This whole thing could have easily been avoided.

And, of course, he still really, really liked her, more than words could describe.

Now, on a whole different note, what was he supposed to say to Uraraka? He'd deceived her, technically cheated on her, heartlessly made a fool out of her. It wasn't like he could turn back time and go fix it. He'd have to figure it out himself. Mina was the one he wanted—he could admit that now—but he still hoped he could have at least a little bit of a relationship with Uraraka, be as best of friends with her as he had been before. He didn't want her romantically, not anymore. At the very least he could admit he loved her platonically, maybe even make amends.

But that wasn't enough for her. That wasn't what she wanted. He'd have to break such saddening news to one of his closest and kindest friends, and he absolutely despised every second of it. He prayed that at the very least she'd be accepting of the truth, the feelings he couldn't and wouldn't change, maybe even understand them.

He didn't like her that way. He never had.

Mineta growling at him knocked him out of his head space.

"Midoriya, you lucky bastard! Uraraka _and_ Ashido in the same night? You could've left some for us!"

Flailing his hands wildly out in front of him, he was held back by Kaminari holding him by the collar of his shirt. Izuku sighed. It was honestly quite sad that Mineta thought this was a good thing.

After a little while longer of hanging around downstairs and conversing with a few of his classmates—those that were willing to talk to him, that was—Izuku decided it was finally time to call it a night, heading up to his dorm where he would inevitably end up getting no sleep, instead spending his time laying around in bed, his mind running endlessly in circles.

 **\- o - o - o -**

It was awkward at first, neither of the two girls talking.

Uraraka started with a simple "hello." Mina appreciated the greeting, a little apprehensive to say hi back.

"So, um, I just wanted to get this out of the way," Mina started. "When I k-kissed Midoriya, I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that, um, I have feelings for him too, and I couldn't really hide them any longer. It wasn't meant to put you down in any way or make you feel bad. And I know I should have gone to you when I first realized I had feelings for him, but I was honestly too scared. And that's all my fault."

Uraraka took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. "Okay, but I just don't get why you had to kiss him like that, on the lips. I mean, Toru said the cheek was fine, didn't she?"

Mina could easily hear the frustration in her voice, like a soda can about to burst. Uraraka continued. "It's like you were _trying_ to rub it in. You even took his first kiss from me, Mina, and you're not even dating him."

"Ochako, I don't want to fight."

"Yeah, obviously. I don't want to either. But it's gonna end up happening because I have questions that I want answered."

"Would you rather talk about this in person?" Mina asked. They were right down the hall from each other, after all.

"I mean, my eyes are all red and I look really bad right now, so not really."

Mina had begun to get a little too comfortable with whom she would usually call one of her best friends, showing her hair to her and her horns and even her eyes every once in a while, but now, after that sly little comment, she seriously wished she'd just stayed in the shadows. She vanished, biting her nails nervously, knowing that Uraraka was upset because of something she did, something she screwed up on, one of her many, many wrongdoings. She was surprised Uraraka hadn't gone rogue on her yet.

She decided it was about time she answered her question. "Um, well, I don't really know, to be honest. I guess I was just kind of fed up with hiding what we had, and in the heat of the moment I wasn't thinking in the right headspace. I know it's wrong, and I really, really regret it. If I'd been given more time I would've kissed Kirishima. Please, Ocha, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, tell me."

"What do you mean 'we had?' Mina, you're not telling me you and Deku were more than just friends, are you?"

Her silence was deafening, anything but music to her ears.

"Right?"

Mina swallowed her pride. Once again she'd let the wrong thing slip. "Um, well…"

"And you didn't tell me?" Uraraka was mad. Really, really mad.

"Well, it wasn't exactly like that! Yes, we admitted we had feelings for each other, but we didn't act on them until then. We didn't want to hurt you. I mean, it was really all me, but that's beside the point. Tonight was our first kiss."

Uraraka's eyes were a lot more glossy than usual, losing their soft touch. "So you two were more than just friends." She no longer hid her face from the screen. "Mina, I-I need some time to think. I— I want to talk to Deku first."

"Okay, that's fine. Midoriya was planning on telling you, y'know. I'm the one who messed it up."

She knew the last thing she should do now was throw herself under the bus, but for once in her life she actually deserved it—nothing more, nothing less. She'd been an ass, made a fool of herself and her friends, and now she was paying the price.

"You could've let him tell me."

Of course, Mina was expecting this. Uraraka sure was deeply in love with him to not notice he'd made a mistake. Or maybe she had, and she was much more focused on Mina because, well, nothing would hinder the sight she had of him in her eyes—sweet, kind, strong, perfect in every which way. Love could be disastrous like that, and it often wasn't until you were with a person for long that you started to pick up on their flaws and accept them, the fact that they weren't perfect, but human like everyone else. They made misjudgements, missteps, had their own set of faults they often liked to keep hidden from the world.

Izuku wasn't foolproof. Mina knew that. She knew Uraraka did, too, but sometimes, even though it was easy to understand, it was especially hard to endure, to condone, to accept something so sad could be true. Sometimes, she thought, Uraraka might've looked past each inadequacy and imperfection to fulfill her own fantasy of having a completely right and just Izuku, one all to herself. Mina didn't judge her for that, as in a way, she did the same.

"Well, O-Ochako, I doubted he'd ever bring it up to you—"

Uraraka must've realized she was starting to get a little ahead of herself. "But— You know what? Actually, nevermind. I'm just confused, is all. I don't know the whole story. I regret not talking to Deku a long time ago. I want to hear it from him."

"You sure? I can explain."

Uraraka's cheeks were a lot more rosy than usual, and not in a good way. "Mina, I'm sorry, but no. Not now. You kissed the guy you knew I was in love with, basically took him away from me, and now you're expecting me to just be fine with it? No. I need time. I want to talk to Deku. Maybe he'll be honest about what happened and not skirt around the details just to save himself."

She covered her mouth, suddenly seeing the malicious intent behind her words. "Sorry if that sounded mean, but those are just my feelings."

Uraraka was like that—always apologizing for things she didn't do. She had every right to be rude; she'd been double-crossed, duped, neglected, thrown by the wayside like a piece of flaming hot garbage. Mina really wished she could do the same, but she could sometimes be a little more ill-mannered than Uraraka, a little more easily set off. The only reason she wasn't today was because this was really all her fault. She had nothing to argue, nobody on her side.

But Uraraka was also often defensive. She'd get angry and then apologize but still stand by what she'd supported originally. She believed in what she fought for, she just didn't believe in being mean about it. It was one of the things Mina respected most about her.

"Okay. You do you, then," Mina started, sighing slightly. Although she wished to remain calm, Uraraka's previous comment had gotten to her, leaving room for a bit of spite and animosity to build up, accumulate deep down inside. "Just, Ochako, know that I never wanted to like him like that. It just kind of happened, and to be honest, I really wish it hadn't." She winced. That was a lie. A lie she wasn't willing to take back. "I can't just turn off my feelings. It's not my fault he started to like me. And I'll tell you the truth if you want to know. I won't hide anything from you. It's kinda sad you think I would."

"Well, I mean, Mina, you kind of allowed it to happen. And it isn't that hard to believe you'd do so since you literally did it five minutes ago."

"Okay, just, do you want to talk to Midoriya? We're not getting anywhere by doing this."

"Yes. Mina, don't get me wrong, I want to work this out with you. We're really good friends, and we work well together, but"—she sniffled, once again an indication that she'd been crying—"I can't right now. I'm not over this. I'm still upset, and I'm thinking I will be for a while. Actually, I don't know if I'll _ever_ be able to get over this. I don't know how long it'll take."

Mina let out the liveliest sigh of relief. The malice was gone; the ill-intention wasn't nearly as prominent as it was before. Things were calming down.

But, on second thought, upon hearing the intensity, the reality in Uraraka's words, she thought she was going to break.

She didn't want to be friends anymore.

At least not for now.

How long would that last? A day? A week? A month? Maybe even longer—possibly forever?

"Okay." She was saying okay a lot lately. "I understand. I wouldn't be able to forgive me, either."

"Yeah. Don't blame you. Well, I mean— Sorry. I didn't mean it like that, but... You get the point."

Uraraka did mean it like that. Mina didn't know for sure, but if she was in her position she'd surely say something similar. She couldn't get mad at her for it. "Yeah. Okay, well, see you."

Uraraka appeared on screen for just a second, a tear trickling delicately down her cheek. The moment she realized she'd been seen, she abruptly shied away. "Okay. Bye then, I guess."

The moment the call was cut off, Mina hid her head in her hands, crying.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Around eleven o'clock that night, Izuku could be seen rolling over to the other side of his bed in the iMessage app, staring blankly down at Uraraka's contact. He started to type something. **Hey. Do you wanna talk? I know you're probably not awake right now, but how about tomorrow? You must want an explanation.**

He sent it. After a few minutes of waiting around without a response, he assumed she was probably asleep, and decided that maybe going to bed was best for him too.

That was, if he could find a comfortable position. It took him a while, but eventually, curled up in a tight little ball, he finally managed to close his eyes, drifting off into one of the lightest sleeps of his life.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Craving a midnight snack, Mina made her way downstairs, knowing full and well that it being half past midnight meant that if she were to get caught, she'd be in some serious trouble with Mr. Aizawa. But she was hungry—what else could she do? And she also couldn't sleep.

Rubbing her eyes, she hopped off the elevator, barely able to notice Kirishima poking his head out of the corner of the kitchen. "Hey, Eijirou. What're you doing up?"

"Could say the same for you. Couldn't fall asleep, I guess. Bored."

"You're just down here because your bored? You know how much trouble you could get in, right?"

He went wide-eyed, looked at her funny. "Well, then, what's your excuse?"

"Hungry. Tacos."

"You came down here for tacos?"

She smiled a radiant smile, one filled with confidence and exhilaration. "Yes."

Under his breath, Kirishima managed to mutter, "How is that any better?" Then, he suddenly got serious. "Mina, you almost outed me today."

"I know. But, Eijirou, you know I'd never do that to you."

"It doesn't matter. You were close."

"So, what? Are you mad at me for it?" she asked.

"Yes."

She could feel her blood pressure rising. "Eijirou, I messed up, okay? I can't keep my mouth shut. I'm just as bad, if not worse than Kaminari. I might be the worst in the class. I mean, even on FaceTime today with Ochako I said some stuff I probably shouldn't have. I don't know what my problem is, but let me at least say I'm sorry."

"Relax, Mina, please." Kirishima didn't know how to handle her. "It's gonna get better. Just now work on fixing it. You can learn from this. I've made mistakes, Uraraka's made mistakes, Midoriya's made mistakes. Yours might've just been… a little bit bad."

She huffed, gritted her teeth. "Yup. Just a bit."

A moment of silence, and then, "Does that mean you forgive me?"

Kirishima put his hands over her shoulders, met her eyes. "Yes. I'm over it, at least. Just be careful from now on."

"Okay."

He brought her in for a hug, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in tight. Her second—no, third hug of the day, if the one with Izuku earlier counted—and she was absolutely and undeniably living for it. Human contact, condolence in general, was something seriously so underrated. If she ever got the chance to be with Izuku, it'd be one of the first things she'd do. Just cleanse him of everything that'd happened, hold onto him for a while.

Kirishima let go, his messy ruby red hair brushing by the sides of her face. He looked different when it wasn't all gelled up, horns sticking out at the sides like they usually did at school. She kind of liked it down. He should wear it that way more often.

She decided now was the time to say something she'd wanted to say since at least the beginning of their time together at U.A, maybe even longer. "Eijirou, I'm lucky to have you as a friend."

He smiled a genuine smile, teeth uneven and jagged and a bit too sharp at each edge. It was a miracle to her how they managed to stay so perfectly pearly white, standing out against the dreary darkness of the bland common room kitchen and couch. It was almost innocent, in a way. "You too."

Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, Kirishima checked the time, went wide-eyed when he realized he really ought to head up to bed by now. Mina made her tacos, ate them quickly, and decided to do the same, finally falling asleep for what would be the first time that night.


	17. Chapter 17 - Slow and Subtle Sunrise

**A/N:** _I know it's been a long wait, but it's finally out! This took me a while, so I appreciate each and every one of you who reads, favorites, and/or replies. I read every one of them! Thank you, and constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged! I'm honestly not too proud of this chapter, so especially so this time._

 _Now, as for the next chapter, I have midterms next week, meaning it might be a little late. I have a lot of studying to do. On the weekend I have a friend's fifteenth birthday party and will be spending most of it either hanging out with friends or playing softball. Of course, I will still try to get the next chapter out as fast as possible! I can guarantee it'll be a good one!_

 _Also, I apologize for some of the weird line breaks in this chapter, I don't know why it's like this, but it might be this way from now on. They're only minor, so it shouldn't bother you guys too much, but again, I apologize!_

 _Update: I got it fixed!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Izuku woke up worn, worlds away from well-rested. Running his usual leisurely jog, he didn't have the necessary stamina he needed to live up to his typical standards, a pace he thought he'd easily be able to maintain a long time ago, and would've if he'd slept. Today was just not his day.

Upon reentering the dorms, common room still quiet and barely lit up by the slowly rising sun, a notification popped up on his phone. It was a message. From Uraraka.

 **Yeah, that'd be nice. Can we talk in person? Tonight, maybe?**

He'd almost forgot. Last night, in his very own hazy fog of sleep deprivation and discomfiting dreariness, he'd texted her unknowingly, instinctively, asking her, begging her, almost, to do the impossible. It would've been hard for her to be ready to talk—too much to take in.

But he'd be glad to talk with her, clear up any misconceptions. There must've been many, multitudes of millions of them.

But that was only if she really was ready, of course.

 **Sure. Sounds good. Just let me know when.**

Her replies were never slow. In fact, they were almost always extraordinarily fast. She hated keeping people waiting, and Izuku, especially, was no exception. **Okay.**

Izuku shivered a little, brushed his bangs back and ran his hands through his hair. He had absolutely no idea how to approach such a conversation, a conversation so imperative, so intimidating, so crucial and key, or where to even begin. Apologizing might've been a good first step, seeing how much of a fool, a tool he'd been, and that, along with an explanation, was the least she deserved, especially after all that he'd done to her. He'd be an ass not to do so.

Izuku made a big breakfast, once again allowing a little leeway, treating himself to something sugary, something sweet, something he wouldn't normally eat. He opted for pancakes this time, fluffy forever his all-time favorite. And as he reminded himself of all the regrets he had, the things he'd stupidly said to Mina yesterday and all the days before, the words he wished he could but knew he'd never be able take back, he accidentally let a little too much maple syrup slip, the pancakes irreversibly drenched.

He didn't mind, though. He liked them that way.

He'd made five, able to cut into the top two.

 _"I don't know, Ashido. Sounds like a you problem."_

All of a sudden, his words came back to haunt him. He regretted them so, so much, almost more than he regretted anything else in his life, as they were so uncharacteristically unlike him. He was just so mad, he guessed, in that moment, so sick of everything that'd happened, that he had to let it all out somehow, use whatever he could as his outlet. He hadn't done anything inherently wrong, per se, and if Mina had just let time run its course, he wouldn't have even had to have such a crude conversation in the first place.

But that didn't make it okay. It wasn't okay. It would never be okay. For at least a little bit of the weight to be lifted off of his shoulders, he'd have to say sorry.

Hopefully that'd fix things. Make her hate him a little bit less, make up for at least one shitty thing he'd done. The list was long.

And he owed her. For a lot of things. Yes, he'd be a dunce to say she didn't mess up, but admittedly, he did too.

This was the least he could do.

Izuku finished his breakfast, mind once again on Uraraka. He was terrified, truly transfixed on the fact that he had nothing to offer, no plan. He'd be going in blindly.

Maybe he could ask for some advice, vent to someone, beat himself up over all of the dumb decisions he'd made in peace—just him and one other person, someone he could trust—for every last ludicrous thing he'd done, everything that brought him shame to his name, everything he wished to take back. And as of right now, there were a lot. His words, some of the things he'd said, and maybe, if it counted, falling for Mina and keeping quiet about it until it was too late. (He definitely did _not_ regret the falling-for-Mina part, but hiding it from Uraraka was undoubtedly debatable.)

And so, in a frightened frenzy, he texted the only person he knew he could. He was honestly pretty sure he was the only person willing to listen to him at all.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Dagobah Beach was especially sandy for the dawn of a new day during a relatively relaxing week, and it was all because of the wind—breezy, airy, rough and sharp like the dead of winter barely beginning into spring. Running toward his confidant, Izuku had to keep his eyes closed to prevent from going blind, having to kick stray grains of sand out of his shoes every once in a while in order to stop his socks from getting caught on nearby shards and seashells. They were sharp, digging deep into his skin, and honest to God he wished he'd picked a better spot—not the bitter, blustery beach at 6:00 a.m.

Hurtling toward his Hero, hands high up in the air, Izuku frantically waved all over the place. "All Might! You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"

"Is that right, my boy? What's got you so worked up so early in the morning?"

He froze, had no clue where to begin. "Oh, everything. I just have to get it off my chest."

"Alright, then. Go ahead. You did say it was an emergency."

Izuku scratched his cheek. "Well, sort of."

All Might reacted overdramatically—and a little sarcastically—with histrionics. "And to think! I had so much work I could've gotten done—"

"No, no, no!" Izuku started, hurrying to try and correct himself. Yet another mistake to mark down in the books. His cheeks were red, knowing what was ahead. "It's not like that! It just doesn't involve… Heroics. And I was thinking, y'know, since you're really only my mentor for that, this wouldn't be a big deal to you, but, um, it's a big deal for me."

"Midoriya, listen"—putting a firm hand on his shoulder, All Might gave his successor a simple smile, the kind of smile Izuku had admired ever since he was a boy—"I am your mentor for that, but that's not all. I'm here to help you with anything you might need. Life problems, friends, school work, anything. If it's a big deal to you, then it's a big deal to me. So, tell me. What's on your mind?"

Izuku took a deep breath, clenching and gritting his teeth and even breathing through them as well. When they suddenly started to tingle, he stopped. He decided he'd never do that again.

His face grew hotter with each passing moment, the embarrassment too hard to handle, but he knew now was the time, if any, to let it all out, everything, every last emotion he'd suppressed inside for the last few weeks.

"Well, um, where do I start? It kind of has to do with these two girls—"

All Might choked. "My boy, my knowledge in that area… is a little lackluster. But I always knew this day would come! You are growing into quite the fine young man, after all—"

Izuku screeched at the top of his lungs, loud enough to scare the neighboring seagulls pecking away at old gum wrappers and soda cans and the sea turtles nesting nearby. "A-All Might? What's that supposed to mean?"

All Might let out a loud laugh. "Oh, definitely not what you're thinking, my boy. I'm just surprised, is all. And very excited! Romance is an incredible thing, even for us Heroes."

Silence. Izuku was honestly a little uncomfortable.

"Go on," his mentor beckoned.

And so he did. "Well, they're both in my class…"

"Let me guess: does one of them happen to be Young Uraraka?"

Izuku lit up like a wildfire, a candle in the darkest of nights. "H-How did you know?" Izuku asked, inching away from his once-trustworthy mentor and, oddly, his best friend, frightened that he knew too much. Maybe he'd been secretly spying on him. "I mean, I thought"—he twiddled his thumbs—"we weren't being too obvious."

"Oh, no. It's been quite apparent to me that she's had a crush on you for a while."

"W-Wait, really?"

"Yup! No doubt about it! Now, who's this other girl?"

Izuku was hesitant. Mina would be All Might's last guess. She'd be anyone's last guess, as, from an outsiders' perspective, society said they should've had nothing to do with each other, polar opposites in every which way, and he hoped the shock of it all wouldn't scare him too much. "Well, um…"

"Let me guess," All Might started. "Young Asui?"

Izuku shook his head.

"Yaoyorozu?"

Once again, another no.

As the situation became more and more out of hand, All Might still cold as to whom it could be, Izuku exerted himself a little more, spoke up. "It's… Ashido. Ashido Mina."

All Might coughed, bit his tongue. "Oh, my boy! I never would've guessed!"

"Yeah… Me neither. It's kind of a long story."

"Well, if you'd be willing to tell me, I'd listen."

And so Izuku reiterated the rest. "Well, uh, Uraraka and I… We kind of prematurely started this relationship. We decided we were gonna go to the dance together. I was excited, and I… I thought I liked her, but then, somehow, I ended up befriending Ashido in order to help me learn how to dance since I really didn't know how to and didn't want to look dumb in front of Uraraka, and, I guess, in some crazy turn of events... Things kinda went downhill from there." Izuku stopped, took a pause, went over his words with wide eyes. "Well, not downhill, per se! It's not like it was a bad thing! Just… maybe a bit problematic."

All Might nodded, ushering him to go on. Izuku concurred. "I started developing feelings for her." Izuku was getting serious now, fiddling around with the zipper caught on the fur of his warm winter jacket as, instinctively, he suddenly got this urge to hold his hands to his heart, to ease the pain and his wildly hammering heartbeat, as neither of which had any inclination of stopping. He thought about the things they did together, how he slowly began to fall for her, and he realized without a doubt that it wasn't anything he'd regret. These feelings, this specific one, was deep, embedded in his bones, awakening new emotions he never knew he had the capability to feel before. It was warm and fuzzy and almost reminded him of something sweet like honey, so abnormally saccharine that it was hard to handle all alone, a feeling only she was able to give him. "And not just any feelings. Real feelings. I-I think. I don't really know. And I started to think less and less about Uraraka."

There was a sudden shift in Izuku's tone, his emphasis and inflection, the long-gone tranquility he'd once had in his words. In the spur of the moment, he'd become more flustered, more somber. "Ashido and I b-both realized we liked each other. We tried to keep quiet, keep our feelings under wraps, but Uraraka found out. And… We made sure to respect her that whole time. We didn't do anything she wouldn't have liked." Izuku hid his face in his hands, covering his mouth upon realizing his subtle white lie, looking away. "Well, for the most part.

And Uraraka was conflicted. I dare say she was mad. All Might, what do I do? I haven't talked to her in days. It seems she wants us to work this out tonight, but I don't know what to say, or where to even begin."

All Might blinked a few times, certainly expecting anything but _that_. "Young Midoriya, my boy, you've gotten yourself into quite the situation now, haven't you?"

Izuku nodded.

"First of all, how long were you and Young Ashido aware that you had feelings for each other? I think that's imperative in determining what to do."

"Just a few days. And Uraraka found out on her own accord. I… stupidly didn't tell her."

All Might straightened up, straying away from his slouching and standing slightly taller. Despite no longer being a Hero, he still liked to keep a good image. "Now, my boy, I may not be too knowledgeable when it comes to women, but let me tell you this, and I'm going to have to be honest: It sounds like you messed up."

"Yes! Definitely! I can admit that now. But, if I'm being honest, Ashido did too. I can say that, since, well, at this point, it's kind of common knowledge."

And so, All Might's inquiry seizing the rest of story out of an already-vulnerable Izuku Midoriya, he continued with the more minor details his mentor was yet to know. The kiss, the party (although he had to be careful around such a sensitive topic), exams, and some of the dumb stuff he'd did and said yesterday that was beginning to make his blood boil. Not only that, but even some of the stuff he'd said weeks ago. Maybe even months. It was all wearing him down, eating away at him bit by bit until he'd whittled down to dust.

"Well, that's certainly more dramatic than anything that happened to me in high school." All Might laughed, reminiscing on some of his most memorable moments. In his mind, anyway, high school was a lot less stressful, a lot less strenuous than becoming a full-time Pro Hero. Izuku certainly didn't have that to look forward to.

"But, in all seriousness, Young Midoriya, which girl catches your eye? Which girl would you rather be with? I think it's important to establish that first."

Lilac at the tip of her nose, gracefully dotting her cheeks, radiant pink skin, vibrant personality and black yet beautifully bright eyes—the decision was easy. For Izuku it wasn't even a question.

"Ashido. Ashido Mina, without a doubt."

"Wow, my boy. You really feel for her, huh?"

Izuku smiled, nodded. "Yeah."

"Sounds like love."

It took a moment to hit him. Instead, he simply stood there, staring down at the ground, cheeks becoming redder and redder by the second as All Might's words slowly started to sink in.

Everything that'd happened, everything that'd gone on between those two, him quietly developing feelings for her in the background of their quickly growing friendship—it was all a dead giveaway.

And although he couldn't have even thought of admitting it before, he certainly could now.

He was falling in love with her.

He _had_ fallen in love with her.

He was in love with Mina Ashido.

His face caught fire. "L-Love? I—"

All Might found this funny. He covered his mouth to keep Izuku from noticing his uncontrollable laughing. "It happens to the best of us, kid. It happened to me when I was your age."

"Really? I-I knew I liked her, but _love_? That's too big of a word. I-I don't know. All Might, are you sure?" He couldn't stop stuttering.

"Why, more than sure! Does your heart ever beat faster when you're around her? Maybe even hurt sometimes?"

Reluctantly, Izuku nodded.

"Then that sounds about right," All Might replied. "Looks like I hit the nail on the head." There was a break between breaths. "Now, as for what to do. Well, tonight, when you talk to Young Uraraka, be honest with her. Tell her how you feel. Don't beat around the bush. And it's clear to me that you didn't mean to hurt her. Make sure she knows that. She'll respect you a hundred times more.

And she may still be mad. Knowing her, she probably will. But I get the idea that she's a very understanding person, so maybe there won't be any bad blood between you two. Actually, I doubt there will be any at all."

Izuku interrupted. "But, All Might, what if she never wants to speak to me again? I mean, she's one of my best friends. I'd be heartbroken."

"Young Midoriya, understand this: If anything, _she'd_ be the one heartbroken. She _is_ the one heartbroken. She has every right to do whatever she wants in regards to what you say to her, as you really did make quite the big mistake. But I highly doubt it. If you have any more worries after tonight, come see me. I'm sure you two will clear things up."

It took a second for Izuku to process those words, but once he did, he smiled. "All Might, you really are a lifesaver."

"Of course, my boy! I'm here for anything you need. Now, as for Ashido, I think you should deal with her later. I'm not gonna do this whole thing out for you. You're gonna have to figure some things out on your own. If you have any trusted classmates, ask them. But I'm sure Young Ashido will be understanding, since she does seem to be quite fond of you. Now that I look back on it, I failed to notice how much you two hung out in recent months."

"You… pay attention to me at school?"

"Why, of course! You are my successor, after all!"

Izuku smiled at that, bowed down. "I can't thank you enough, All Might! Thank you! For everything."

"Oh, my boy, there's no need to thank me. It was actually quite entertaining, if I'm being honest. The highlight of my morning!"

And with that, All Might extended his hand out for Izuku to stand up, offering a fist bump significant for "you've got this," Izuku willingly giving one back. They decided to call it a day, Izuku more than sufficient with his newfound advice, confidence no longer a word eradicated from his dictionary. It had been for quite a while.

Izuku thanked All Might one last time, waving a subtle goodbye. All Might waved back. Once he was out of sight, Izuku plopped down on the sand, letting out a loud sigh. He picked at nearby seashells, smiling at the sea and the birds and the bright blue sky hanging overhead. He thought maybe he was losing his mind.

He concluded that he just mixed the relaxation. He was so infatuated with it, the beautiful scenery surrounding him, that he just had to smile. One of the things he missed most about not having a love life was the ability to catch some free time, the ability to unwind.

And, speaking of, how did he, of all people, even end up in such a melodramatic dilemma? He wasn't particularly striking or special. He was actually pretty plain-looking; nothing about him really stood out. The least he could say was that he had a good personality. (Well, for the most part. He screwed up sometimes.)

 _Oh, well,_ he thought. _Even if I don't see it, they must see something in me I don't._

That made him happy.

 _Hopefully Mina sees something. She has to. She can't like me for no reason._

And then he was walking on air.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Class that day—if she had to describe it in one word—was awkward.

Almost everyone was quiet, much to Aizawa's surprise. He was able to get through his lesson a lot more easily than usual, no longer having to interrupt his most chatty students to tell them to quiet down. It was actually kind of nice.

But, for the rest of Class 1-A, it was anything but nice. Unbearable, even. Lunch was the least pleasant part of the day. Mina sat in her usual seat with her big group of friends, those who now knew of her unbecoming crush and had questions. Apparently they didn't think to ask them last night, when there wasn't the possibility that people could overhear.

She peeked back at Izuku every once in a while, wondering whether he was thinking of her. She sure wished he was. She was, without a doubt, thinking of him. He'd practically consumed her. In just a matter of weeks, he'd become the first thing on her mind.

Of course, that was outside of school, her family, her Hero work, and her friends. She was still her own separate person.

If it wasn't obvious enough to everyone around him—including Uraraka, who had decided to sit a few seats down for today—Izuku was off in space. Eating in relative silence, he kept on looking down, and every once in a while, over to the side of his seat where Mina was. Then, he'd take a quick peek back at Uraraka, feeling weirdly guilty wondering whether or not she'd noticed. Sometimes he'd catch her staring, and maybe even Mina as well.

It was an all-day battle. That tension never did break, all throughout school and after school and even on their march back to the dorms. The three of them were easily able to stay away from each other without even exchanging a word.

Izuku texted Uraraka something he always thought he'd be too scared to say. **Does seven sound okay?** He knew she knew what he meant.

 **Yes. Meet me at my room.**

Izuku double-checked to make sure no one was around, peering from behind or over his shoulder or sitting a little too close for comfort. Then, he mustered up the guts to respond. **Okay.**

 **\- o - o - o -**

Time came and went, and suddenly it was seven. It'd had flown by way too fast. Izuku couldn't believe it. Tentatively, he knocked on Uraraka's door.

She opened up, cheeks rosy red, ushering him in after a few seconds of weirdly waiting around. There was this dark cloud hanging over their heads, creating an especially awkward atmosphere. Neither wanted to say something.

Izuku went first. "Well, um—"

"So—"

They paused. They felt weird interrupting each other. Uraraka cleared the air. "You go first."

"N-No, you go."

Uraraka scratched her head. "O-Okay… Well, so, apparently you and Mina, huh?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"Okay." She cut right to the chase. "Deku, I just… need answers. I mean, I'm gonna start off by saying I didn't ask you to the dance on a whim. I really, really like you. A lot. And, if you don't feel the same way, just let me know. You should have told me a long time ago."

"Uraraka, I was genuinely excited when you asked me out. I did think I'd fall for you. I got butterflies in my stomach every once in a while when you were around, and I seriously did want to go to that dance with you. Honest."

"So, then… you and Mina. How can you say that but still end up falling for her? Well, actually, before that: do you like her back, or is it only one-sided?"

Of course, Uraraka had already heard all of this. But from an untrustworthy source. She wanted to hear it from Izuku, as he was her ride-or-die, her day one, her tried-and-true confidant.

Izuku looked away. He'd seated himself in the swivel chair situated by her desk, her things all nice and organized, pens and pencils in little cup holders and cheap makeup sitting in order of color beside her mini mirror. She sat comfortably on the edge of her bed. He really wished he could spin around a few times, get the jist of it and the jitters out, but he couldn't deny that that would be rude.

He scratched the nape of his neck. "Uraraka, can I be honest with you?"

"Of course."

"I don't say this to hurt you. In fact, that's the last thing I want to do. I'm sure Ashido feels the same way. But… her and I… We had something. I couldn't tell you why it happened. It just did. We didn't do anything, we swear. We'd certainly never kissed before last night, not even close. In fact, that was actually… my very first kiss."

"I kind of assumed so, judging by your reaction."

He paused, continued after Uraraka's slightly, actually-kind-of-necessary interruption. Something, or _someone_ , had to derail the tension. "And, well, we only established we had something, that we were more than friends, a few days ago. This wasn't a long-time thing, and I was going to tell you, but I was just genuinely so scared of hurting your feelings since, at least I know now, they meant a lot. And I should have gone to you sooner. I know. None of this makes it okay."

She reached over, took his hand.

"W-What're you doing?" he asked.

"Just… hold on for a sec. Before I yell at you, get mad at you, I want to savor this moment. I'm gonna miss you after this. Being with you, at least, even if we weren't totally truthful with each other."

And so that's exactly what she did.

And then, just mere moments later, she yelled, spewed words at him at the top of her lungs. "Deku, you let her! You let her kiss you, and even I could tell you had no intention of pulling away. You were seeing me. You should've! Easily could've. It was the right thing to do. And you only hurt my feelings more by not telling me!" She began to tear up. "Even if you don't like me like that, we're still best friends. These are the kinds of things we tell each other."

"I know, and I realize that now," he said. "I acted like a tool. Even All Might basically said it outright earlier this morning," he mumbled, that last part just a beat in his last breath. "If I could fix it now, I would. I don't know how to say I'm sorry without feeling like it's not enough. Uraraka, you deserve the world. You're such a kind and genuine person, and you don't deserve to be treated the way I treated you. You deserve better than me."

She shook her head. "No, Deku. I think you're misunderstanding. You're not the only one who screwed up. Yeah, you did something bad, awful, even, but so did I. I forced this relationship upon us too fast. I never noticed you were uncomfortable. I was always the one pushing for us to talk, to grow closer when you were never ready for it. And, in that case, I made a mistake, too."

"No. That's not your fault. You never would've noticed. It's my fault for not speaking up."

She smiled. "Deku, I appreciate it. I really do. But you don't have to. Stop taking the blame for everything. It makes you look weak."

He gasped, the realization tough to take in. He knew he sometimes gave off that aura, but to hear it out of Uraraka's mouth really hit hard. "But— It's true! It was my fault!"

"Yeah, let's be honest here, it really was mostly your fault. But let's not fight over apologizing."

He nodded.

She suddenly took on this somber, serious tone. "But, yeah, I think that's the end of the road for us. Neither of us could be truthful, and because of that this whole mess is getting out of hand. Looking back on it, it'd probably have been better if I'd never asked you out in the first place."

She couldn't help but notice this surprised look on his face, mouth hanging open, agape. Frantically, she waved her hands wildly out in front of her, as if to let him know that wasn't what she meant. "We can still be friends! It's just... gonna take some time." She ran her hands through her caramel-colored hair, twirling her finger around a few loose strands as she let go. "I mean, I did—and still do—have a huge crush on you, and it'll take a little while to move past that, if you know what I mean. And… I'm still pretty angry at you."

Izuku knew how hard it was to be friends with someone you loved. He went through it—the whole nine yards—with Mina.

"Yeah, I get it," he said. "Well, um, it's still kind of sad to hear that. B-But I do get it! I acted like an ass! Do you want me to stay away from you, or…"

"Yeah. Honest to God you probably should. I know I'm not showing it, but I'm still pretty upset about this whole thing, pretty mad, and you being around might just push me over the edge.

A-And I'm not saying we can't get this cleared up! I mean, we kind of already have, I guess, but I'm just saying that maybe we shouldn't talk for a while. I think it'll be better for the both of us. Allow us to let off some steam."

Izuku wanted to let the tears fall, and in any other situation he would, but right now he was just too embarrassed. "Uraraka, thank you. I don't deserve all this. I screwed up big time; you're way too kind."

He was right. He didn't. Even Uraraka could admit that. Yet she'd held her ground for far too long—long enough, she guessed—and now, she thought, it was probably best to move past things, let time run its course. She couldn't hang this over their heads forever. "Honestly, I probably am. I might still hold a grudge. Is it okay if I do? Hold a grudge? Just for now?"

"Yes. Even I have a grudge against myself."

They both had a good laugh at that. "Oh, and one last thing," he started on his way out the door. They'd already said their goodbyes. "Please don't take this out on Ashido. Whatever you do."

She looked away. "I-I know, and I'm trying, but—"

Izuku gave her his most pacifying puppy-dog eyes. "Please."

"Deku, it's not that easy."

"I know, but can you at least try? She messed up bad, and you have every right to be mad, but this isn't entirely her fault."

Uraraka was beginning to get a little hotheaded. "What, so you're saying it's yours?"

"Yeah. Kind of."

There was a pause. Uraraka gave herself a minute to calm down. "Okay, well, I think it's time I head out now. Just, even if I am mad at Mina, don't hate me, okay?"

Izuku's eyes turned soft. "I would never. I'd just… rather not see her upset, is all."

He added one more thing. "And, I know I never said it outright, but I really am sorry for all of this. You deserve better."

Barely being able to hold the waterworks back, Uraraka began to tear up. "Yeah."

And with that, Izuku left, softly shutting the door behind him as to not stir her or make her think he was mad. His presence managed to resonate with her all the way down to the end of the hall, even as he hopped on the elevator and left her all alone there and walked back out into the common room with all of the rest of his classmates, probably chatting up a storm like usual or grabbing a bite to eat. Just like that, she'd lost her first love. Anger, frustration, sorrow and sadness—all of it building up inside of her, along with that grudge, she was still perplexed on how she managed to hold back tears.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Mina had a lot on her mind. She threw her arms back over the edge of the couch, the cushions just a bit too short for her. If she, 5'3", considered them short, how did they fare for everyone else?

She nodded her head back. There, standing before her, was Izuku.

He wasn't looking her way. Thank God. But he did notice when she couldn't help staring at him for a little too long. She looked away.

Embarrassing.

She decided, despite all of the shit that'd happened, that she'd at least try to talk to him. Maybe she could break the tension. "Do you wanna watch something?"

Izuku had begun to walk faster. His assumption was that Mina wouldn't want to say a word. Halfway through his dash toward the kitchen, he turned back around. "Hm?"

"On TV. I can get up, if you want."

Izuku slowly but surely stepped back toward her, this the last thing he was expecting. He would've never reached out to her on his own accord, the awkwardness a bit too much, but he was kind of glad she did—it was comfortable, in a way, natural. "No, I'm fine. I'll watch whatever you wanna watch."

He rested his elbows on the back of the couch, her head between his hands. Maybe he should've moved over a little.

But to be honest, he didn't really want to.

She flung him the remote. He caught it just in time, her toss a little too over the top. He turned on a channel about the history of Heroics, one of his all-time favorites, and as he looked down, just to see Mina's reaction, he noticed she did not look amused. _Oh well,_ he thought. _She brought this upon herself._

Staring blankly at the small screen TV in front of him for the first five minutes, just standing there idly as she suddenly got more and more sucked into the intricacies of the informatory TV show sitting before her, the show she'd so quickly scoffed at just moments earlier, he decided it was about time he better back off. The tension was all too much, eating away at them like a boatload of incoming school stress or a hiccup in their beloved Hero work, their training thrown off course. In his mind, there wasn't much worse.

"You can put what you want back on."

Mina looked up at him. "No, it's okay. I like this."

"Really? Because you made a face earlier like you didn't," he said, knowing very well that she probably thought she'd gotten away with it, pulling a fast one on him and spinning her words a bit, spinning the truth. She most certainly did not.

"Correction: I like it now."

They both smiled. The moment Izuku realized this—this happiness, this _love_ he felt for her—was beginning to reach unprecedented proportions, he once again threw on his facade, the corners of his lips turning down in a slow and stiff, almost precise kind of manner. He once again looked down at her. She wasn't hiding it, so why was he? He was embarrassed, he guessed.

He liked seeing her happy—especially after all that'd happened. Knowing that it was him who made her so energetic, so full of life—so animated, so exhilarated, so ecstatic—carried him up to cloud nine, high enough for even him to start smiling himself. He couldn't pretend, couldn't hold back anymore. He was happy. Happy for her. Happy to just be around her.

And he could tell that she was too.

"Uraraka doesn't hate me," Izuku said, almost completely out of the blue.

"That's good," Mina started, smiling.

"Mhm," he mumbled. He breathed a sigh of relief, needing to get that off of his chest. She didn't pry any further.

Izuku flushed red, looked down at the top of Mina's fluffy head. She must have sensed his heat, because she immediately looked up at him as well. They were now facing each other.

She blushed. Lilac and lavender were beginning to get old. They were so used to getting embarrassed, flustered around each other by now.

She stared into his eyes for a second before looking away. It took everything she had in her to stop thinking about him, stop thinking about his lips and that kiss and how she'd never be able to kiss those sweet, lush little lips again.

Or, at least, with him finding an immediate excuse (Iida calling, apparently—of course Iida would call instead of using text or FaceTime) to walk away without even saying goodbye, an excuse to get as far away from her as physically possible, it was sure beginning to look that way. The odds were not in her favor.

Kirishima gave her that same raised eyebrow, the questionable one he liked to use, abuse, whenever he'd seen something he very likely shouldn't have, one that could have meant many things. He'd been in the background this entire time. How could she not notice?

Not that she really cared. It was Kirishima, after all. But if Kirishima saw, then how many others did?

Half the class, apparently. Although, thankfully for her, they weren't watching very attentively, surely not as attentive as she would have first assumed. They had other things to do. She'd say she'd gotten lucky, but if she admitted as such, her string of good fortune would likely fade away.

 **\- o - o - o -**

Izuku had made progress. He was proud of himself, proud for speaking up on his behalf and opening up to Uraraka and beginning to do damage control on this whole fiasco and at least getting a little somewhere, even if it was just something small. He had not a single clue how Mina was faring (he'd be a lot less stressed if he did), but he did know, however, that finally— _A miracle,_ he thought—if the remaining hours of the rest of the rest of the day went well, he'd be able to rest easy that night.

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

 **A/N:** _So, what did you guys think? Enjoyable, or not so much? I loved writing the All Might part, as it was good fan service. In my opinion, this chapter is pretty iffy altogether, but I hope for you guys it was a good read! Thank you all again, and you can surely look forward to the next chapter!_


	18. Chapter 18 - Darkness Before Dawn

**A/N:** _Hey, everyone! Sorry this is so late! I had a lot if responsibilities to fulfill, plus midterms. These last few weeks have been busy. On a side note, next chapter should be out a bit earlier, as February break is coming up. I'm so excited lol. I really need a break._

 _Anyway, I'd say I'm pretty proud of this chapter. It's my longest one yet, but because of the content I don't think you guys will hate me for that. Let me know what you guys think in the reviews! Every read is appreciated._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Thursday, as unremarkable and uneventful as it was, flew by in an instant.

And then, without a lick of delay or doubt, a few short hours passed and it was all of a sudden Friday.

Tensions still grew strong. The rest of the class was relatively over Tuesday's chaotic catastrophe, but for those directly involved—Izuku, Uraraka, Mina, maybe even Kirishima—they were anything but moved past it. It was a struggle for them to even look one another in the eye. Awkwardness hung heavily over their heads, a wandering cloud that never seemed to let up nor stopped sneaking up on them through their shadows, never seemed to disappear.

Class ended on Friday on a relatively relaxing note. Aizawa didn't bother with an abundance of busy work, or too tough of a schedule for this weekend. Saturday hosted optional classes as usual, and Sunday they had off.

Mina was glad. She needed it—needed the extra sleep.

"Midoriya."

Halfway out the door, Izuku turned back around upon hearing his name out of somebody else's mouth. His teacher usually didn't call after the bell had rung—it was honestly quite surprising.

"Hm?" he asked, eyes on Mr. Aizawa.

"Can you do me a favor?"

Izuku nodded. "Sure."

"I need"—Aizawa handed him a few worksheets—"40 copies. Of each of these. It shouldn't be too long of a trip. The copy machine's right downstairs."

"Okay," Izuku said. He suddenly turned timid. "But, um, where exactly _is_ the copy machine? I don't think I've been down there yet."

Aizawa gave him a set of confusing directions. Izuku nodded like he understood, but inside he was scrambling. The most he was able to get out of all that was the machine was in the main office. Although, that was kind of off of his own accord. Where else would it be, after all? The cafeteria?

"Um, I'm not quite sure I follow…"

For a guy who got good grades, Izuku could be dense sometimes.

Aizawa sighed, and upon this Izuku bristled with fear. "Bring a partner, then. I'm sure somebody else will know."

Izuku took a broad look around the classroom, hoping not everyone had left so he could possibly find at least one potential accomplice. A loud laugh caught his eye, easily likeable and bright and bubbly and well-received by anyone in the near vicinity, an all-too familiar laugh he didn't have to question was whose. He looked away as soon as she met his eyes.

In Mina's mind, she was clueless. She was too focused on the funny thing Jirou had said to worry about much bigger matters like her irrelevant issues with Izuku. She whispered to Jirou, "Why's he looking at me like that?"

"You didn't listen to a word Aizawa said?"

Mina cocked her head. "Um, no? Why would I?"

Jirou briefly explained it to her. "Just get over there," she said, firmly pushing against Mina's backside, sending her flying toward a flustered Mr. Aizawa and Izuku. She stood there for a second before saying anything.

"Ashido? Would you be willing to help?"

If this was anyone but her own teacher, she'd most certainly say no. Stuck in an isolated area with the very person she was in the midst of a confusing conflict with wasn't how she envisioned spending her Friday afternoon, or any day of the week, for that matter. She knew they'd have to start talking eventually, but just not now.

But, with the end of the school year just around the corner, she knew she didn't have much time.

And she also wasn't looking to piss off her teacher, either. "Sure," she obliged, eyes darting back and forth between Izuku and the floor by his feet, Jirou and Mr. Aizawa making their way into her line of sight every once in a while as well. She'd do anything to avoid his eye contact.

Izuku knew he needed a handyman by his side—he just wasn't expecting it to be Mina. It was honestly quite ironic. Just this Monday, they'd spent some time alone together after school as well, although there wasn't as much conflict back then and much more devotion, emotion, more care and closeness that they could easily say they'd lost in the last few days.

Honest to God he found it quite upsetting. He missed the feeling of somebody else's warmth, Mina's warmth, a warmth like no other. As he looked over at her, strutting down the hall a few feet ahead of him with a bin full of loose leaf paper (more by her side than he'd ever be), he realized just how much he missed those kinds of things, the things that made him love her that much more, and flushed a deep, crimson kind of red. He began to whistle to ease the tension.

They eventually arrived at the main office. At a loss for words, Mina stepped in in Izuku's aid and gave Principal Nezu a reason for them being here. "Mr. Aizawa's orders," she suggested.

It would be about ten minutes before they had the required number of copies. 200, apparently—five sheets, 40 for both Class 1-A and Class 1-B—which Mina honestly found kind of stupid. Why couldn't Aizawa do this himself? Surely someone at this school had to have a Quirk made for this kind of stuff. Why go the extra mile?

She asked Izuku—half just trying to make headway for conversation, half because she was curious. He provided her with a logical explanation. Maybe Mr. Aizawa had other things to do, he said, more important matters he desperately needed to get done, which meant he didn't have time to sit around all day downstairs waiting for work to print out for next week's classes, the printer so slow it could probably go out of order in the next couple of weeks.

So much for a high-end high school.

And Izuku also mentioned that the chances of someone having such a Quirk were actually quite low, especially in a school where most people's Quirks were considerably more elite.

She agreed with him on that. But what she really wanted to know was how to take up the matter at hand.

He slipped the first round of paper into the printer.

They just kind of stood there. To break up the silence, Izuku pulled out his phone, leaning against the back wall pretending he had something to do whilst in reality just scrolling through Instagram. He'd much prefer that over having to face Mina.

Mina sighed, following Izuku's lead, but instead of putting up a facade, pretending she wasn't at all ill at ease, she looked up at him every once in a while, wondering if he'd ever be looking back at her, ready to start a conversation. He never was.

Eventually, she got fed up. "Let's talk."

It took him a moment to come up with the words. "But, Ashido— here?"

"Why not?"

"It's just… I don't know, maybe a little bit public?"

She watched as he gritted and grinded his teeth, bit the tip of his tongue, slid his feet a bit further to the left, much more away from her. He was clearly quite uncomfortable.

"So? It's not like you'll ever talk to me any other time. You just continue to ignore me."

He slipped his phone in his back pocket, standing slightly taller. "Because it's awkward, Ashido. Really, really awkward! And… I'm obviously still mad at you."

"Well, so am I! But don't you want to move past this? I miss you, Midoriya. I miss hanging out with you."

"Of course I do. I miss both of those things. But is it really worth it if all we're gonna do is fight? We hurt someone, Ashido. Someone very dear to us. What're we supposed to do now?"

Mina began to tighten her grip around her loose leaf pieces of paper, the ones Izuku had given to her intuitively just a few minutes ago, crinkling the corners and corroding the edges. She was beginning to lose her cool. "Fix it! We're supposed to fix it! What, you don't think we can do that? You don't want to try?"

"I do! I just… can't stop thinking about Uraraka."

She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah. Well, I mean, you did cheat on her. And now she hates you _and_ me."

Little did Izuku know how deeply he'd regret his next words, the words soon to come out of his mouth. "And whose fault is that?"

Mina gave him a look.

He caught wind of his cruelty, his malicious intent. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean that. And I didn't mean what I said on Tuesday. I—"

"Are you kidding me? Midoriya—"

"It's both of our faults. I know. I should've been upfront with her. And you shouldn't have come onto me like that."

Mina was mad. " _I_ came onto _you_?"

Izuku tilted his head, raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" he almost asked.

"It was very much mutual. I liked you; you liked me. Hell, I _still_ like you. I was just so sick of you not telling Uraraka—"

He stopped her short. "You gave me three days. _Three_ days, Ashido! That's barely any time!"

She got in his face. "That's plenty of time to tell your girlfriend—or whatever she was to you—that you've been hanging around all romantic-like with somebody else for the past week and don't even know if you still like her! That's a lot, Midoriya. That's a big deal. I wouldn't have been able to stand one day I'd feel so bad!"

Izuku pouted, scrunched up his eyebrows. Misinterpreting her remark, he took that as a personal attack. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, if you cared about her so much, how could you lie to her like that? How could you look her in the eyes the same way and still smile?"

"Because I didn't want to hurt her, Ashido! Because I was too scared to hurt her. Not after what you said."

She looked at him funny, as if, not for the first time, she was trying to figure him out. "After what _I_ said?"

"About her… y'know, being in love with me."

She glanced unmindfully down at the ground. "Oh. Well, um, I wasn't lying, you know."

"I know. But honest to God you had no right to tell me that in the first place. You're supposed to keep your mouth shut with stuff like that, not go spreading it around. That was very much personal, and very much for Uraraka to tell me and not you."

She suddenly couldn't keep her composure, couldn't cope with Izuku's conniving comments—which he had no right to use, by the way—reiterating once again how she was going to lash out at him in retaliation. He was pointing out all of the worst parts of her personality, the parts she liked to hide, and hearing him say it straight to her face made it all the more a reality—that not only Kirishima had noticed, but he had, too. She knew it would be fruitless to fight with him, but in a heated rage, she'd decidedly do it anyway.

"I know. I know I screwed up, okay?" She began to have a hoarse voice, hiccup over her words, choke on her own phlegm and tears as they all balled up in the back of her throat. "Say it to my face again, why don't you? Want me to point out all the worst parts about you? How would you feel? Here, I'm gonna do it anyway, 'cause my name's Izuku and I'm an ass. You care too much. You care too much about other people's feelings. Usually that'd be a good thing, but you don't know how to handle it. You couldn't have done anything stupider with Uraraka. It would've been better if you'd just straight up been upfront with her. You weren't protecting her. You were only making it worse."

She immediately regretted that last line. In fact, she regretted most, if not all of those lines. She'd said she didn't like him pointing out the negative qualities about her, and now she was doing the exact same thing. She was being two-faced, a hypocrite. Two wrongs didn't make a right—that was something her mother had taught her from a very young age, something she was supposed to live by.

She could see the hurt in his eyes. He'd bite back. "I would've been able to say it if you'd given me a little more time, okay? Some people just handle things differently. I couldn't come right out and tell her that. Maybe you could, but I couldn't. And I guess that's a good thing, and I know I'm in the wrong, but—"

He was about to say "so are you" but was promptly interrupted by the rude old lady sitting at the front desk, the one lounging just a few feet away who'd likely been listening in on their lover's quarrel the whole time. They both blushed. How could they fail to notice such a glaringly obvious outfit, a glaringly obvious Quirk? She seemed to be an animal of some sort, a feline, which was probably why Nezu hired her.

She put a finger to her lips, begging them to be quiet. Mina looked back at Izuku, and Izuku looked back at her. They both stared down at the floor.

"Y'know what? Why don't you just go? We aren't gonna get anywhere with this. This is exactly like the last time." Mina walked over to the copy machine, pulling out forty brand new, crisp pieces of paper, exact replicas of Aizawa's five page polynomials packet, the one they'd probably have to start working on at the beginning of next week. They still smelled sweet, airy, very much novel. Weirdly enough, Mina liked that smell, especially when it was hot off the press, along with the smell of old library books. Most tended to disagree with her.

She held on tight, ruining the elegant edges with her anger. She turned back around, surprised to see Izuku still standing there. She'd expected him to put the papers down on a nearby desk and run off. "What're you doing? I said you can go, didn't I?"

"Ashido, I'm not leaving you."

Her cheeks went just a little bit light lilac, so much so that she was ashamed. She opened her mouth and then shut it again, unsure of what to say. "Fine. But we can't keep fighting like this. So it looks like I'm leaving you."

She whisked by him, tossing her still-new stack briskly on top of the photocopier, taking big strides as she strutted out the door. She couldn't help but keep her fists clenched, an aura of anger surrounding her the whole time.

She ran back upstairs, speeding down the hall quickly toward Class 1-A. Aizawa raised an eyebrow, as if to wonder where Izuku was and what she was doing alone, but she didn't care, nor did she even botter batting an eyelash. It would only make things worse.

Mina crammed her books into her bag. "Ashido, where's Midoriya?" Aizawa asked.

"He said he's got it covered," she replied, swinging it over her shoulder as soon as she was ready to run. She was out the door in a flurry.

 _Quick and shorts struts down the hall. Quick and short,_ she reminded herself. She couldn't be slow. She needed to get out, get somewhere safe, somewhere where she could let the tears fall freely without fear or judgement or anything more embarrassing than what she'd already put herself through.

But, alas, even Mina could admit that it was too late. One tear rolled down, and then the next.

Through blurred vision, she could barely make out the back of a lackadaisical redhead walking just a few feet in front of her, comfortable and calm and completely unbothered by his sidetracking surroundings. She almost stopped short, but realizing he was alone, and that he was Kirishima, she rammed right into him.

He turned around, relieved to see it was her. "Mina, what's up? What're you doing? What's wrong?"

He stopped as soon as he saw her. Crying. Something had clearly made her upset. Letting her latch onto him, he wrapped his arms around her, knowing that no matter what'd went on she surely needed his comfort, his help. "I hate boys," she started. "They're all such assholes."

Kirishima knew she didn't mean him, and she definitely didn't mean what she'd said. It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing, something she'd regret later. "I do too," he said, smiling, thinking of all the dumb stuff Bakugo did. He could be an ass sometimes.

He wasn't going to lie. All boys could be.

"Midoriya said something again, didn't he?"

"Yeah…" she said, coercing herself into calming down, beginning to think a bit more rationally. "But so did I." There was a hic in her voice. "And if we hadn't been interrupted by that _stupid_ secretary, maybe we could have gotten over some things, gotten some things cleared up, but of course that didn't happen. Of course things went south. They always do."

"Mina," Kirishima consoled. "You usually don't think like this. C'mon, cheer up. It wasn't so bad, was it? Didn't you get at least a little somewhere?"

"No. Not really."

"Well, knowing Midoriya, he'll one day come running back to you. I'd put money on it. He's made some mistakes, but he's a good guy. But whatever you do, don't let him down easy. You two will work things out. A lot's happened, after all. It's only been a few days."

She hugged him tighter, her hands running up his back. This was why she loved him. "Thanks, Eijirou."

"Yeah. I've got you, you know," he said. "With whatever you need."

She smiled. He could feel her lips parting through the silky fabric of his school uniform. "I know."

With Kirishima planning to hang out with Kaminari soon and the sun beginning to set, they decided it'd be best if they go.

Kirishima let her hide behind him whenever someone walked by, shielding her from potential onlookers (people tended to talk), as she wasn't too fond of her crying face, or that she was crying at all. She wanted to hug him all over again—where in the world would she ever find another friend like this, especially one so caring and kind and considerate of her needs? She seriously needed to savor this boy.

As soon as they arrived back at the dorms, she thanked Kirishima for all that he'd done and hurriedly headed up to her room. Izuku was yet to be back. _Thank God,_ she thought. She could cry in peace.

At least, that was what she wanted to do. But instead she laid back in bed, listening to a mix of media of music, after all that'd happened the tears still somehow reluctant to fall. She supposed that was a good thing.

 **\- o - o - o -**

"Just apologize."

In an instant, Izuku isolated Todoroki's words, everything else in the near vicinity becoming background noise. He'd come to him for advice, as Todoroki seemed to be one of the least problematic people he knew, and could say he wasn't at all disappointed. Of course, this _was_ common sense, but Izuku could be a little slow sometimes. He needed some extra guidance—a step-by-step tutorial, a reiteration of even the most rudimentary things.

He'd already tried apologizing to Mina. He got interrupted long before he could get to that part.

"W-What?" he stuttered.

"Apologize."

He looked Todoroki dead in the eye. "Um, well, I mean, I kind of tried that already. It didn't go over too well."

"Did you really?"

Izuku was almost surprised by Todoroki's detective skills. "Well, uh, I-I guess not." He scratched the nape of his neck. "I never actually got to say those words directly to her, as we kind of got interrupted, but—"

"So no, you didn't actually apologize."

Izuku sighed. "No. I guess not."

Fed up with Izuku's foolery, his evasion of the truth, Todoroki crossed his arms. "Took you a while," he mumbled. Then, he suddenly got serious. "Listen, Midoriya—what time is it right now? Seven? You've kept her waiting for four hours. I recommend if you're ready, go up and see her. Say you're sorry and explain yourself. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Izuku started to stutter. "B-But, Todoroki, what if she doesn't? What if she doesn't accept my apology, or never wants to talk to me again, or… or hates me for the rest of her life? I don't know what I'd do. I'd be heartbroken—"

Todoroki got up off the couch and grabbed Izuku by the shoulders. "Midoriya, I may not know Ashido that well, but she seems like a reasonable person. And you two have a connection. I'm sure she'll be understanding, and maybe even apologize herself. Out of anyone, you'd know that best, am I right?"

In Izuku's mind, Todoroki had lit up a lightbulb. After all this time, he'd finally connected the dots. It was all so simple. A simple matter of liking someone special, a simple matter of falling in love, a simple matter of saying sorry and bringing this brawl to an end by admitting his true feelings and letting her know how much he cared, how much he missed her and wanted to be with her, how easily he'd fallen in love with her. She was so special, so one-of-a-kind, that it wouldn't take long to explain.

"That's… That's true," Izuku uttered. "Todoroki, you're really great at advice. Thank you. Seriously."

Todoroki nodded at Izuku's flattery. "No problem."

Izuku kneaded his sweaty hands together, still slightly nervous. "Okay, well, um, I think I'll go do that now. I feel bad keeping her waiting, seeing her upset because of me."

Izuku turned and took off toward the elevator, waving back to his next-best friend behind Uraraka and Iida, the infamous trio, thanking him for his input on this whole situation whilst wearing one of his weakest smiles. He was nervous, practically on the verge of a panic attack, so nervous, in fact, that he almost had no way of controlling it. Todoroki was really a big help—a wake-up call, more or less. He needed one. But he couldn't help but fear what was ahead.

He hopped off on the fourth floor. There, to his left, was Uraraka's room. He almost walked by, but something in him screamed to stop.

And so he did. And, a little listless and ill at ease, he knocked at her door.

She came out a mess—hair half up, half down, still slightly asleep, nearly no makeup. She freaked when she realized it was Izuku standing there waiting for her and not one of the girls like she was used to.

"U-Um, Deku! I wasn't expecting you!" she shrieked, hurrying to redo her ponytail. She left it in a messy bun. He thought it looked cute like that; she should wear it more often. Maybe it'd make Mina look good, even better than she already did.

Or, on second thought, maybe that was an Uraraka thing. Mina's hair was too short.

"Sorry! I-I didn't mean to startle you. I just… wanted to say that I'm… I'm going to talk to Ashido. If that's okay with you."

Elastic half-hanging out of her mouth, Uraraka stood up. She spit it out in order to be able to talk. "Deku, you don't need my permission. I'm not your girlfriend, remember?"

"I-I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting you, is all."

"Of course it's going to hurt me. Deku, I fell in love with you. I know that might be sly of me to say when you're about to go visit the one person you'd rather have over me, but I thought, since this is my last chance, I should probably tell you now before it's too late. And you don't have to give me so much space. If I'm gonna get over it, I gotta start by being around you. Okay, Deku? Don't worry about me. You and Ashido… do whatever you need to do, okay? I may be mad at her, but that doesn't mean you can't both be happy."

He wanted to hug her, but he knew it'd be too soon. Too much close contact for someone who had just moments ago admitted she wasn't just crushing on him, liking him, but in fact falling in love with him. Maybe he would one day. In fact, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that that day would come. This was just a mini mountain they'd have to climb.

"Uraraka, are you sure? You can admit it if it makes you upset." He motioned toward the now-empty doorway. "I can head right back downstairs."

"It doesn't. I promise. Just go. Go see Mina. I'm sure she has something to say to you. I know she does." She took a step closer to him, so fed up with his self-accusatory, shamefaced attitude that she was seconds away from just shoving him out the door. She was tired of his constant nagging, his anxiety that stuck with him wherever he'd go—it was beginning to get on her nerves. He was an obsessive overthinker and a worrywart.

And she also couldn't stand to see him again. Not like this. Not when he was about to talk to the one person she was mad at most.

Izuku opened the door. He stopped just before stepping out. "Uraraka, are you sure—"

"Deku, I'm sure." She pushed him, and he yelped, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did so. She just wanted him gone. She wanted Mina to stop being so upset, and, most of all, she wanted some alone time, some peace. It wasn't Izuku. But he did have everything to do with it. Just having him here hurt her.

Izuku stumbled down the hall. "Go! Go see her!" she said, willing to wave back with the door wide open, wearing one of her most exuberant smiles in an attempt to pretend to be at least the littlest bit fine. And she was. Just far more upset than she'd show.

She saw him to the other end of the dorm—Mina's room, which Uraraka was jealous of because she had it exclusively all to herself—gave him a quick thumbs-up, and then, before the big breakdown, slyly showed herself out. She shut the door, sliding slowly down to the floor. Admitting that she was in love with him had finally brought her to tears.

 **\- o - o - o -**

 **Apologize, Mina. You have to.**

Mina reread Jirou's texts over and over again.

 **But he needs to apologize back. We both do. It's just that I'm scared he won't. I'd look like an ass. I'd be making a fool out of myself.**

She could picture Jirou hitting herself over the head through the phone. **Well then if he doesn't, he's the one who's ass. You won't have to worry about him anymore; you can find someone better than that. But, knowing Midoriya, I don't doubt that he will. He seems like a pretty good guy.**

She suddenly got giddy. She hopped up off the bed, heading toward the door. Now was the time, if any, to take Jirou's advice. She'd been trying to persuade her for hours, and it'd finally gotten to her head. **He is. Thank you, Kyoka. For everything.**

She wasn't able to read Jirou's response quite yet, as she was in too much of a hurry. She needed to go see him. She needed to go see Izuku.

But as soon as she opened the door, adrenaline pumping wildly through her veins, she had to stop short.

Izuku stood just a few feet away.

She gasped. "M-Midori, hi!"

"Hey," he stuttered.

"Um, I actually wanted to talk to you—"

She stopped when she saw him bow. "Me too!" he shrieked. "Me too," he reiterated after relaxing a little, coming back to Planet Earth and his senses and toning it down a few notches in order to seem at least a little bit calm. He'd come off far too strong.

"I'm sorry," he continued. "I'm sorry for always picking a fight with you and not owning up to what I'd done. I'm sorry for doing something dumb, not telling Uraraka about what was going on between us and refusing to admit I'd made a mistake. I was just so stubborn at that time because, well, I was scared. Scared of what you'd say, scared of what everyone else would say, scared of making it all the more the reality. I acted like an ass. I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry—with all of my heart."

Her facial features softened. But before she could fully rest easy, she took one look down each end of the hallway, ensuring they were alone. She decided it'd be best if she pulled him into her room.

Her motioning him in was a good thing, wasn't it? It meant she wanted to talk more. At least that was what he'd assumed. She certainly hadn't slammed the door in his face, so that was a good start.

She swept him off of his feet, grabbing and guiding him through the door.

Pinks and blacks and loads of pretty patterned prints—all of which caught his eye. Despite her light skin tone, magenta was her color.

He quit his existential wandering and focused on the problem at hand.

A nervous Mina, one of the world's most rarest sights, stood stiff right in front of him, head down and heels hammered to the floor. She was incredibly reluctant to move.

"I'm… I'm also sorry! I fucked up too. I pushed you away today when we maybe could have come to a compromise just because I was angry—I know, childish. And I'm so, so sorry for kissing you out of the blue like that and being so hard on you during a difficult time and not giving you a break for not doing what I'd asked. It was a hard task; I know. I would have done things differently, but you and I—we're two different people. I can't expect you to be like me. And for that, I'm sorry! So, so sincerely sorry!"

Izuku's cheeks turned red, the tip of his nose rose. She stood up for a few lasting seconds, the tension finally starting to dissipate between the two. It was a relieving feeling, a feeling like no other. The jitters just seemed to fade away.

"A-Ashido, of course I accept your apology. I've been waiting for one for a while. Do you... maybe accept mine?"

She nodded furiously, fiddling her fingers a few feet in front of her face. What else could she say? She was nervous. "Midoriya, I would've accepted it a long time ago."

He stuttered before getting his lines straight. "D-Does that mean you miss me?"

"More than you could imagine."

Mina coming on so strong gave Izuku the shivers, the shakes, the anxious shudders and brisk breaks. But he decided despite that, he'd follow her lead. "Me too. Me too, Ashido. I miss hanging out with you. I miss being around you. I miss you being my best friend. I miss it all."

"I do too. And, honestly, something inside me is telling me it's probably because I'm in love with you."

Izuku went wide-eyed.

 _What?_ he wanted to ask.

So it wasn't just him? She felt it too?

He started to have second thoughts. _But isn't it too early for love? Too early for the infamous L-word?_

In a fit of fierce feelings, he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her more hastily than he ever had before, a lover loath to let go. He asked first, of course, looking at her one last time before ducking under her, slyly sliding his hands around her broad frame and back as soon as she gave an obligatory nod. It wasn't something he could help, something he could or would prevent; instincts had become like second nature to him, enrapturing his body as he, out of stun and shock and a boatload of overridden uneasiness, walked right over and slipped his arms under her, holding her firmly by waist.

He could, without a doubt, say that he loved her. It'd all happened so fast, and many may say he was being overdramatic, but after All Might's words, he couldn't deny that it had wholeheartedly become one-hundred percent true.

"I'm sorry," he muttered over her shoulder, voice muffled by the thick fabric of her heavy-duty hoodie. Why it was so cold out today—the world would never know. "For everything. And I… I'm in love with you too."

She held him tighter, partly because she was just so nervous and overcome with bliss. "But, Uraraka—is she okay with you being here? You at least talked to her first, didn't you?"

Izuku pulled away. "Yes. Of course I did. I couldn't have come here if I didn't—I'd feel too bad. And she said so. She said it was fine. I checked in on her."

"Midoriya… She's surely still upset."

Izuku's eyes fell to the floor, knowing deep down that Mina's words were an unchangeable and undeniable truth, the truth Uraraka tried so hard to hide. She was only fooling herself if she thought no one would notice.

Izuku sighed. "Yeah, probably. I— Ugh," he started, tightly rubbing the top of his temple, dissatisfaction distilled in his voice. "I can't help feeling bad."

Mina felt a few tears fall, dribbling down her cheeks and her chin and all the way down to her neck. They eventually collected at her collarbone, soaked up by the fabric of her once-brand-new Hero hoodie, the one she liked to wear so much whenever she wanted to relax, the one she felt so comfortable in, the cotton picking them up before they had the chance to roll down any further. The fact that they had even reached that far was a feat in and of itself.

Izuku started to freak. "A-Ashido, what's wrong?"

"It's just… I've been waiting for this for so, so long, and now all of a sudden I can't get over the fact that there's still Uraraka, and she hates me, absolutely hates me, and I get this feeling we're totally screwing her over, acting like such tools—"

She wiped away the tears just lightly with the back of her hand. Izuku started to notice these things—the way her horns quivered with each and every weep, the way she shook and shivered and shuddered her shoulders, the way she curled her fingertips into a ball so tight and couldn't even begin to think to open her eyes—it all screamed weak, meak, not bubbly and bright and bustling with life, everything her opposite, everything upside-down.

This was Mina. Emotional. Anxious. Scared, absolutely terrified, to open up.

This was the Mina Izuku was yet to know.

This confident Izuku, this caring, not-so-socially-awkward Izuku was just as new to her as well.

They were just beginning to get to know each other.

And, instead of stopping them, it only fueled their fire more.

Izuku stopped her short. She was still rambling, something she would've been quick to scold him for just a few weeks ago. Times had really changed.

Tentatively, he brought his hand to the nape of her neck, and then to the top of her cheek. He rubbed right under her eye.

She could feel his hands shaking, his cheeks reddening, him radiating off heat. He started to speak up. "Ashido, Uraraka let me come here. I even asked her. And I'm willing to bet she's sad, since, y'know, she apparently really did feel a lot for me, but... So am I." He took his hand away. "I'm… I'm sad that I haven't gotten to see you. Sad that it seems like you hate me."

"Oh, Midori. I don't hate you. But I could honestly say the same. I'm sad, too. For all the same reasons."

"Then let's be a little less sad together. I-If you want to, I mean. Stop thinking about Uraraka, even if it's just for right now."

And so that was exactly what she did.

She cornered him, closing the remaining distance. She walked right up to him, and before he could even think of pulling away, she kissed him hard on the lips. He went wide-eyed, absolutely and unbelievably stunned, before beginning to kiss her back, holding her hips and her heart in his hands. He could feel it beating from everywhere.

Izuku was slow. He was a sly, shy kisser, a timid and uptight mess, which maybe might've been a little bit because of her. She was scaring him so much, she guessed, worrying him out of his mind.

It was his first real kiss, after all. And technically hers as well.

Her skin was so supple, so soft. He couldn't even begin to describe something so sweet, nor could he come up with the right words. It was like finally closing this gap that'd lingered so loudly between two people for such a long time, finally shattering that wall, that last layer between them. And now that it was broken all they wanted to do was explore every inch of each other.

She pulled away, face flushed, heart hammering heavily out of her chest. She put her hand right in the middle of where his rib cage and sternum would meet, the pressure from each beat noticeably more vigorous than usual, going a thousand miles a minute. It got her all riled up.

She stayed close to him. "That makes two," she said, smiling, holding up a couple of bunny ears just subtly below her waist in an attempt to lighten the mood. Whether or not he would notice would remain completely unknown, nor did it matter to her.

He smiled, eyes cast down onto hers. He was red as a ripe tomato.

After such a chaste kiss, they decided to heat things up.

Just barely. It was more of a fervent kind of heat, a needy one—one that'd lit up between two people who had recently fallen in love.

Mina was much more dominant. She was so excited to finally get to kiss him—for real this time, not during some stupid kids' game—that she just couldn't help herself. She pulled at his bottom lip, teeth just lightly biting in and breaking the skin. Her hands left a trail up his lean, muscular build, traveling all the way up to his round and boyish face. She rubbed her thumb over his smooth skin once she'd made her way to his cheeks.

Izuku tried to speed things up in order to match her pace. They were both brand new to this, neither having experience nor knowledge at what they were doing. They'd gone in blind, fire in their hearts and an unrelenting desire the only thing they had left going for them.

"Three," Mina mumbled, pulling away for one last breath, mere moments later going back in in a fervent fever for more. Izuku, finally gaining some more confidence, pulled her close, running his rugged hands through her wild, messy, unruly head of poofy pink hair. It reminded him so much of his own, except different. Softer. Smoother. Ten times more untamed.

She wanted to maybe move in with some tongue, but inevitably decided to wait. She liked taking things slow, especially with Izuku so timid and shy.

Besides, they were moving too quickly already. Which could prove to be both a good and a bad thing. Maybe they should slow things down.

 _Eh. Oh well._

Mina mused in the more happy-go-lucky side of her mind, tears beginning to breach her once-dry skin. They were the good kind of tears, the happy ones. They were too subtle, too unnoticeable to fall.

Izuku's hands were everywhere—her hips, her hands, her waist—purely out of longing and lust. He was tongue-tied, trying his best not to squeal. Just one kiss was all it took to realize he was so far gone with this girl, so deep in love.

He tasted like mangoes and peach. She, pomegranate and pineapple—tangy and tart yet still sickly sweet. It was appetizing, appealing how easily the two fruits mixed.

He interlocked his fingers with hers. She began to push back, in a heated fury with little to nowhere to go, having no control over where she was walking. He stumbled back in consequence, practically fighting to stay on two feet. He couldn't fall over; it'd do numbers to the fiery feeling.

She rolled with the tide, taking the two toward the bed. They stumbled and fell and nearly tripped over the base of the bed frame, but were able to maintain their balance. Izuku's calves hit hastily against the hard wooden edge, an indent imprinting on the inside of his leg.

In fear of banging teeth, Mina pulled away.

He sat staring blankly at the border of the bed. She still hovered above him, both breathing heavily. It was a battle in and of itself just to calm down.

There wasn't any way Mina was going further. Izuku wasn't ready, and neither was she—she was also more than sure she didn't want to, definitely not right now. It would totally ruin the mood.

And so, at that very moment, miserably missing his touch, she gave him the most loving hug she could even think to muster up. "I'm sorry," she said. "I want to start over."

"So do I," he managed to mutter, still in a trance-like state. This whole experience was completely surreal to him, much like a dream.

They both collapsed back onto the bed, turning toward each other and finally giving one another a break from wearing the weight of the world on top of their tired shoulders. If it continued on like this, it was bound to do some permanent damage.

She finally caught wind enough to be able to talk, speak clearly and spark some sentences. "Midori... I've been wanting to kiss you for a while now."

"Me too," he said, smiling, too stirred-up and high-strung to worry too much about his probably-poor performance. He wondered whether or not he was allowed to touch her, pet her hair and show her how much he loved her, give her the affection he very much thought she deserved.

He picked up his hand and moved it toward the side of her face, or, in the case of them lying down, the top. "Can I?" he asked, suddenly stopping short, a certain sweetness and serenity in his voice. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable, break this newfound trust.

She nodded.

He rubbed the top of her head, pretty pink hair an unmanageable mess as he laced it through each of his fingers. How she contained such a thing—he'd never know.

"We should go on a date."

Izuku smiled, suddenly so much more relaxed around her. "Saturday?"

 _Tomorrow?_ she wanted to ask. "Yeah. Let's," she said. "Where?"

"We can figure it out later."

 _Huh,_ Mina thought. Izuku was usually a planner, but apparently not today. Maybe she'd influenced him with her impulsiveness. "Okay."

Mina brought him close. She'd hold him tight, loath to let go, chin resting if only a little uncomfortably in the crook of his shoulder. She missed this—missed this so much. "What are we, Izu?"

"W-What do you mean? And what do you mean by 'Izu'?"

"Are we dating? Or, I don't know, would you rather wait until after the first date?" she said. She continued. "And… I guess, since, y'know, we're clearly pretty close, I thought maybe I could call you that. But if you don't like it, I'll stop—"

She knew he'd shriek as soon as he started to shiver. "N-No! I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised, is all. And, M-Mina—I'll call you that from now on, too."

He added on, as he suddenly realized he'd only answered half of her question. "And let's just see how this date goes."

She wasn't sure whether to be glad or sad. She was so excited to just finally call him her boyfriend, give him love and affection out in the open without it being weird or having to schedule special rendezvous, finally get to kiss him whenever and wherever she wanted. But alas, she'd have to wait a little while longer to make her dream come true.

"Okay," she said, cuddling him closer. They touched the tips of their noses, connected at the hip, and she gave him one more quick kiss, to which he blushed furiously bright red.

She couldn't help herself. She was just so happy to finally be by his side. She had to give him one more.

They vowed they did not need a blanket. They would use one another's body heat, one another's warmth, to keep them from being too cold. And it worked. At least for a little while.

But as day turned to night, the air outside getting considerably cooler as it seeped its way into the open windows and doors of the dorms and dorm-room balconies, they eventually decided they could no longer go without one.

And so Mina fell asleep right then—the drama coming to an all-time end bringing ease to her body and soul, finally letting her leave her sleep-deprived state—on top of Izuku, the blanket balled up by their feet. She rested comfortably in the crook of his shoulder, letting out a loud snore every once in a while, much to his amusement. He admired her for a few minutes, giving her this loving look, this look of awe and amazement over finally getting to be with such a sweet girl—he was glad he got to be with a girl in general, but this one was special.

This one was sweet. This one he loved. This one could be a little too loud, vexatious and a bit too ambitious, but he had fallen in love with her anyway. There was never going to be another like this one, and if there ever was, he probably wouldn't find her for quite a long time.

He had to cherish her. Had to be careful with her. He couldn't fuck up so easily, fuck up so often—he had to step up his game.

And so he promised to himself that that was what he'd do. He'd never let her down, never give her a reason to leave earlier than she had to, never hurt her, never break her heart.

He swore to God this was the one thing he wanted in life besides becoming a Hero.

He looked at her for a little while longer before becoming too tired. Laying there next to her had drained the life out of him—this whole day had. And so, even if only a little reluctantly, he hopped up off the bed, careful not to wake her, and wrote her a note.

 **Hi, Mina. This is Izuku. I'm leaving now—it's 9:30 p.m., and I still have a lot of homework to do. I would've stayed the night, but I wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable with that yet, so I decided not to take that risk. I just wanted to let you know what time I left and when I'd be back at my dorm. Maybe you'll see this in the morning, maybe in a few minutes—who knows? But whatever you do I hope you rest easy. Can't wait to see you at school tomorrow!**

 **-Izu**

He sent it as a text—adding so much as a single sweet emoji terrified him, but he decided he'd do it anyway—hoping she'd see it in the morning. He was too scared to be much more affectionate with her—say "I love you" anywhere other than in person, hold her hand, tell her straight to her face how much he missed her. But he did. He missed her a lot. Of course he did. And she knew that—he was sure that at this point in their relationship none of that needed explaining. Not yet.

One day he knew he'd be comfortable enough where it wouldn't be weird if he would. He anticipated that day, was even excited for it. It might've been easy for Mina, but not so much for him.

Still, he thought that note expressed enough in such few words. He'd even say he was proud of it, how short and sweet it was, looking forward to Mina's reaction when it finally did pop up in the notifications center of her phone, waiting patiently to not only be opened but to be read. He most eagerly awaited her response.

Izuku smiled back at her one last time, head still up in the clouds, waving back to her shortly before he'd reluctantly have to shut her dorm room door. He put on an incredibly happy face, a high-spirited one, walking down the corridors more joyous than he'd ever been before, a skip in his step. He could no longer hide his overwhelming elation, exhilaration. Saturday classes the next morning, and then their highly anticipated first date—it was all to die for. And, especially after tonight, after all this, after everything that'd happened, there was only one thing left looming in the back of his mind: _Finally._

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

 **A/N:** _So the story's finally reached its climax! I hope you guys enjoyed this—took me a while lol. Thank you all so much for reading. There are only a few more closing chapters left and an epilogue and then I'll be done! My first full novel. As usual, reviews are always greatly appreciated!_


	19. Chapter 19 - A Beautiful Disaster

**A/N:** _Hey, guys! Sorry for how late this is. But it is over 8,000 words long, so I hope that makes up for it. Mostly pure fluff!_

 _Just three more chapters after this. Two chapters of the real story (one super short) and an epilogue to wrap it up. Then this will be done. It's been a crazy, year-long journey, but I've enjoyed every second of it. I'm glad you guys have taken the time to read along with me._

 _Let me know what you think in the reviews section! I poured my heart into this, so constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged. Yet again, thanks for reading! And thank you for all the positive reviews on last chapter! (Although I will accept negative ones too, as I'm still a novice writer who knows I need work!)_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Mina woke up the next morning dazed.

It was as if she were drunk again. Drunk on love.

And it was at that moment that last night's events came back to her, as she sat up and stretched and then laid back down again in her bed. She wondered where Izuku went. Maybe he'd sent her a text.

He had. Just the thought of it made her giddy, touch the sky with glee.

She couldn't remember the details, but even in her response, he'd be able to tell how happy she was. And he'd made her really, really happy.

Hell, even in what should have been her clarifying happiness, something as waking as a warming goodbye letter, she could barely remember what she'd written back. She was still so delirious.

She squealed, swooned, looking like a drugged-up mess as she suffocated her nearby pillow, the one Izuku had laid on.

He'd even tucked her in before he left. He'd obviously kept her on that same side of the bed, not wanting to wake her, but he was clearly quite courteous.

She checked the time. As it'd finally occurred to her, she'd totally forgotten to do that.

She read 8:05 a.m.

Class started at 8:20.

She hopped out of bed and floored it.

"Crap, crap, crap!" she cried. She usually ate a little something in the morning, a granola bar or a banana or some Greek yogurt, but today she'd have to do without. She brushed her teeth for what must have been a maximum of one minute and threw on her old (honestly a bit worn) uniform, leaving her hair an untamed mess and hurrying out the door in a frenzy, a fast flare.

She made it to class just on time.

When she and Izuku met eyes, she smiled. He smiled back, waved, looked away, blushed. She guessed he was a little embarrassed.

And the whole thing with Uraraka wasn't yet over, either. She had a little inkling that Uraraka still hated her.

She sighed. So how was she supposed to go on a date tonight? Wouldn't it be wrong?

Oh well. They'd surely get it sorted out.

And, after class, that was exactly what they decided to do.

Izuku was the one to text Uraraka, letting her know that they were going to be together probably all afternoon into the late night and that he thought it was best if she was aware.

Mina, grabbing his phone and sending her a voice recording—one he definitely did not consent—told her she wanted to talk later, maybe sort some things out. To her surprise, Uraraka was eager to say yes.

She also responded to Izuku's text, saying it was "A-OK" and "no big deal" and that she was glad he even spoke up about it in the first place. _He_ was glad. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Hopefully he'd lifted one off of hers as well.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**  
Mina tried on her whole closet before deciding what would be her cutest outfit to date.

Well, her cutest cute-casual outfit to date, the cutest she could create. She could, and had, come up with better.

A sweater shredded at the seams, multicolored stripes, all of her favorite pastels, and a pretty pair of blue ripped jeans. Just at the knees, though, as she couldn't let herself get too cold.

She finished the look off with a couple of cute accessories—a heart necklace and some hoop earrings—her wallet, and a pair of thigh-high boots resting not too high, but just above the knees. The coffee color tied it all in, created this colorful blend.

At 12:30 p.m., she headed downstairs.

She was careful not to draw too much attention to herself—to neither her nor Izuku. They decided they'd rendezvous wherever everyone else was not, just to be safe. Sadly, this happened to be the courtyard, still icy cold from the winter weather.

She waved when she saw him, standing there on the sidewalk. He'd gone and gotten himself dolled up, which for some reason got her all giddy. Deep black jeans, a white t-shirt with embroidery of some kind she couldn't really read, and a black-and-red-patterned flannel left completely unbuttoned—but it was okay, because he looked good that way. In fact, he looked good every way.

But she did think if he buttoned it up he'd look a bit more posh, a bit nervous, a bit more uptight.

And that was certainly the last thing she wanted. She wanted this to go smoothly. She wanted them to be comfortable around each other, like a couple not dating for days, but for weeks, months, maybe even years.

After a quick hello, they headed sneakily back through the dorms and out the main entrance. They were lucky to have not caused a scene.

"So, where do you wanna go? I was thinking we should wait until now, since, you know, it'd make things a little more natural," Mina suddenly started.

"Well, um, I know the guy is kinda supposed to think of this stuff, so why don't we just take a train into Musutafu first— _if_ that's what you wanna do—and see what's around. Maybe a movie. Maybe dinner. Whatever you want," he said. And as he walked, right in the middle of his talk, he grabbed her hand, swinging it back and forth just slightly like sitting on a seesaw. She swooned as soon as he did so.

"Okay," she said, her heart still jumping out of her chest. "I wanna do karaoke! I suck at singing, but it always brings back good memories. I haven't been in forever."

She added on, waving her hands frantically in front of her face. "But only if you want to!"

Izuku laughed. "No, no. Don't worry. I want to. I haven't been in a while, either. Although, for me, at least, it doesn't exactly bring back the happiest of memories, as I never really went in middle school. I've only ever gone this year. And it was once."

That's right!" Mina quipped. "You were a loner back in middle school, right? Back before I knew you. I totally forgot."

Izuku blushed bright red. "A-Ah, who told you that?"

"Bakugo, I think. But then again, he's irrelevant. Apparently wasn't wrong, though," she said, staring straight at him, humiliation written all over his face. Both were very aware that she'd caught him red-handed.

"I-I guess he wasn't," Izuku admitted, explicitly stating it outright, opening up to her and rubbing the nape of his neck. He let go of Mina for just a second, palms growing sweaty, before once again holding her hand. He couldn't leave her for too long. Who knew what she'd do if he let her roam free, left her to her own devices? Mina could be kooky sometimes.

The bus to the inner-city side of Musutafu didn't take long. U.A. was on the outskirts—they weren't looking to stay close to home, but instead head out to the more touristy parts town, the malls and the five-star restaurants and the old-time cinemas, and do something a little more formal, a little more date-like.

As soon as the train stopped, they headed up and out of the subway station and walked hand in hand down Main Street. Izuku pointed out a theater—one his mother used to take him to all the time, one he swore by. It wasn't the old-fashioned kind Mina was looking for, but she still liked it nonetheless. It reminded Izuku of his mother—how could she say no?

Except, she immediately contemplated walking right back out those doors as soon as she realized—the only movies playing were action.

"Isn't there anything else we can see, some other cinema? Romance? Slice of life? I know you don't agree, but I spend all day being a Hero. I kinda need a break."

Mina sighed, placards of new movies up and running for show completely uninspiring to her.

"Hey," Izuku stuttered. "You know I love action."

"Yeah, but I don't," she said.

"Okay, then let's try and find some middle ground."

Mina looked up at the superheroes, superhuman speed and strength, and the notorious antagonists that followed.

A little befuddled, she tilted her head toward him, raising one eyebrow. "Um, _where_?"

Izuku looked over the list. "How about here?"

Mina, eagerly shifting his way, gave a quick glance over the genres. Action, obviously. And comedy. It had something to do with some Hero's life on and off of the battlefield, and how some Quirk cast on him by some villain had completely changed the entirety of his present and past and future and everything in between—she'd stupidly forgotten the name.

Yet she still didn't smile.

Comedy couldn't appease her.

She wanted romance.

And so, Izuku bitter over her overly excessive needs, they kept on with their search, narrowing it down to just two movies before finally reaching just one.

It took five minutes of fighting before middle ground was found.

They were going to see _One Heroine's Story_.

It'd only come out just a few days ago, and certainly wasn't popular, but was the only thing that checked off their list. The reviews were next to nonexistent, and the least they could do was find an adequate synopsis.

Skipping the insignificant details and delving right into the gist of it, instead of the Hero saving the Heroine, this time it was vice versa.

And it sucked.

Which was to be expected, of course. Despite its awful execution and low-grade quality (the camera work was mediocre at best) it failed to make Mina miserable, put her in a sour mood. Izuku either.

It was so bad it was almost great.

Because of its unpopularity, they ended up being the only two in the theater. They could laugh as loud as they want. Chew food and cuddle close and do whatever their hearts desired as, well, no one at least that they knew of, was watching. Who knew what kinds of security cameras were installed in this place?

Mina laughed at the supposed-to-be-serious parts. Izuku found them quite horrifying. Much to her dismay, he eventually got sick and tired of a movie so sapless, so devoid of vitality, and fell asleep halfway through.

Oh well. It wasn't like she couldn't blame him.

But she could blame him for being her greatest distraction.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**  
"Whose idea was _that_?"

"Uh," Izuku gawked, "yours?"

"Hey," she said. "It was a mutual agreement. You said yes."

Izuku, a smirk lining his lips, playfully rolled his eyes. "And I shouldn't have."

"I mean, you are the one with the brains. I'm the stupid one. Don't listen to me," she said.

Despite her sprightly smile, he couldn't just let that slide. "Oh, no you're not," he said. "Here, let's put it this way: I might get better grades, but you're ten times more street smart."

She gestured her finger toward him. "Now, I will give myself that."

"And so what if the movie was bad? We don't need sappy romance."

She could listen to Izuku drone on all day. She'd never get tired of hearing it. He was slow and sly in making his way toward her hand, and, on impatience and impulse, she suddenly speeded things up, doing it for him. "That's right," she said. "We've got our own."

Izuku lit up like a ladybug, crimson red and easily startled spreading its wings. Eventually, after letting go and grabbing hold of her hand again, he relaxed, maybe even gave the slightest hint of a nod—she couldn't really tell. He was starting to get all shy on her now, reclusive. She missed Izuku's more confident side.

They kept on down Main Street until reaching Musatufu's most monumental (and infamous, often for the amount of crime that occured) city square. All of the best places to eat were there, and after a two-and-a-half-hour-long movie, they sure were hungry, starving even, anything readily available acceptable to fill their empty stomachs.

"I'm kinda in the mood for something sweet, don't you think?"

Izuku turned his head toward her, wondering where in the world she'd ever come up with something so ludicrous. "I was thinking more along the lines of… savory?"

"But, I mean, we were just at the cinemas," Mina mumbled, reminiscing on the last two tubs of drizzly buttered popcorn they'd waited in line so long for, which, in fact, were very much worth it, simply because of how filling they'd become. Now that it had settled in her stomach she was full.

But not too full. Not full enough to refrain from downing dessert. She didn't have that much self-restraint.

"But popcorn is only a snack. I was thinking we could maybe get a real meal. B-But, of course, if you don't want to, then we won't—"

She let out a little laugh at watching him worry over her—he wasn't one to think about himself. "Izu, don't worry," she said. "It's no biggie. Let's just find somewhere that serves good food _and_ desserts. That way it satisfies both of us."

That exuberant smile made her glisten, glow, shine in the showy sunlight, even in the middle of spring, a sky with no clouds. She was like a second sun.

He had to take a while to breathe easy.

That was right. They'd definitely find a way to make this work.

Or, at least, that was what they thought.

Apparently, despite the city square's more-than-admirable reputation, there weren't a ton of places they could eat—not in the line of good taste.

There was never a restaurant that was one or the other, and the small selection only made things worse. Restaurants, bakeries—nothing in between. Their last hope was almost a mile walk away, a few blocks down from the square, but did they have any other option? No. And so they ventured off.

"It's closed."

Izuku stood there stunned.

"You're kidding."

Wondering if maybe she'd read it wrong, Mina double-checked the lettering in the front window, lights still turned off. "Nope."

Izuku sighed, holding his head in his hands. "Just our luck. And I was looking forward to this, too. What do we do now?"

Mina, still starving and slightly stunned by her recent revelation, suffered a swift surge of sorrow, suddenly, in an avoidance to meet his eyes, staring out across the street, searching for some sort of excuse to undermine the fact that she had brought this upon herself, brought this upon them.

And she found one.

There, just a quick crosswalk away, was a whole line of food trucks, none of which he knew (he didn't eat out very often), each with varying levels of different diverse cuisine. Ethnic foods, desserts, barbecue—you name it. It made his mouth water.

The food would be shitty. That was a given from the get-go. But would they still eat it anyway? Yes, because they were certainly much less willing to walk the extra mile.

Grilled chicken with a side of sweet potato—Izuku wasn't hungry for much more. The movie-theater popcorn was beginning to catch up with him. In an effort to satisfy her cravings for something sweet, she headed right over to the desserts trucks at the end of the lot and picked out a smoothie, a healthy blend of some fruits and frozen yogurt.

Naturally, this meant they had to seperate.

Mina wondered if any of this was normal, especially for a first date, for two people falling in love.

 _Probably not,_ she assumed. But then again, this _was_ her and Izuku. The two of them together were a different kind of couple. So different it was honestly kind of scary. They deviated, differentiated from the norm.

But still, splitting up was never a good thing.

Splitting up meant splitting apart.

Mina shook that thought out of her head. All of this unnecessarily obnoxious overthinking would eventually lead to her demise, her downfall, or worse, some sort of stress-induced stroke.

Izuku met up with Mina. He noticed something was off as soon as he saw her but neglected to mention it, brushing it off as a momentary moment of distress, nothing that'd last in the long run.

The tables teeming, they were forced to pick out a bench, one shady and sitting by the sidewalk. Mina didn't mind. It made it all the more romantic.

Which this date was turning out very much not to be.

Even as he was eating, Izuku, worried as one would be (maybe even more so, as he wasn't just with anyone—this was Mina, after all, whose happiness mattered to him the most) continuously peered over at her, wondering whether or not she was still in a bad mood.

Twiddling the straw of her smoothie, refraining from drinking it and instead spinning it around in circles over and over again, Izuku didn't think that time was coming too soon.

"Mina, is something wrong?"

She sat up slightly taller. "What?"

He reiterated it once more, this time much more confident. "You've been looking down lately, and you're not drinking your drink, so I'm guessing something's the matter. B-But if it's not, know that I didn't mean to upset you—"

She laughed a nervous laugh, breathed a subtle sigh. "It's okay, Izu. You're not wrong." She suddenly seemed serious. "I would be lying if I said there wasn't something on my mind…"

"Well, what's up? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no," she said. "It's nothing like that. It's just that… I guess… this date's kind of been a mess so far, not like the one I'd planned out in my head. We just keep splitting up, and I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but let's be honest here: a lot has gone wrong."

Izuku smiled a sad smile, a subtle one, and sighed. "No. Mina, I'm glad you said something. I've been thinking the same."

To ease the tension, Mina bit her bottom lip. "I want us to agree on something, y'know?"

"Me too," Izuku said. "But we did agree on one thing, remember? Karaoke later. You're still as excited as I am I hope. I remember I went to the one a few blocks down a couple months ago, the one by the square—"

Mina meddled in the midst of him and his next bite, just too excited to sit still. "I _love_ that place! I used to go there all the time with my friends back in middle school, but not too often, since it was a hike away from my house. Now that it's closer, I get to go all the time. It's the girls' favorite hangout spot!"

Izuku got giddy, whole body glowing at the thought of finally sharing something at least a little bit in common. "Really? I like it too! I totally forgot the name of it, though."

"Don't worry. I can take us there. I know the way."

Izuku nodded. "Okay."

Mina took his chopsticks, picking at his food. "In the meantime, I wanna try some of your grilled chicken."

Izuku looked down at his now nearly-empty, already-insufficient plate and cried out in retaliation, a reasonable reaction to her actions. "Hey! There's not much left, y'know."

He reached over, trying to steal the chopsticks away from her, but she'd already gulped it down before he was able to get anywhere close.

Izuku kept reaching.

They fell further and further back onto the bench.

His struggles were almost laughable. "Izu, you look funny when you're mad."

"Correction: hangry."

"Okay, hangry. Whatever. Same thing," she said, sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Here, how about this: I feed you. I feed you some, and you get your chopsticks back."

 _Huh,_ he thought. So this was what she meant by "date."

Izuku blushed bright red.

"But, Mina… We're in public."

"So?" she said. "Don't you wanna show off a bit?"

"I… I guess," he mumbled.

She sensed some sort of uncertainty in his voice, some sort of doubt. He most certainly did _not_ want to do this. "How about just one?" she asked. "Just one bite? If you don't want to, we don't have to."

He shook his head. "No, um, it's fine. One's fine."

And so they sat up straight. Mina, hands shaking, picked at a piece of potato, dropping it a few so many times that it was almost like she was a newcomer to the ways of Asian cuisine. She swore she was born here.

Eventually she managed to grab hold of one, picking it up at just the right angle for it to finally fit into her chopsticks. She held her breath, hearing it hitch in the back of her throat, and moved the meat toward him.

"Open," she said when she neared his mouth. He did.

Both of their bodies burning up, she couldn't help but stare as he reluctantly took the first bite. He made the most fetching, fair face, something she'd tuck deep away in her memory, something she'd never forget. She vowed she'd be the only one to see him make that face.

It wasn't until after that they realized people were watching. Izuku blushed bright red, and Mina, his embarrassment more of an amusement to her, doubled over in laughter, half giggling, half bawling her eyes out clutching her stomach. With each and every breath he got more and more embarrassed to be by her side, so much so that he nearly choked on his own chicken, swallowing it whole. Mina would've had to do the Heimlich maneuver.

He coughed and coughed and then managed to collect himself.

"You good?" she asked.

"I-I guess so," he mumbled, and it was at that very moment that he finally lost all of his inhibition, freeing himself of his frets and letting himself laugh along with her.

He would probably never see these people again, so who cared what they'd think?

And even if he would, then oh well.

If there was one thing Mina had taught him, it was that he could let himself go every once in a while. It'd do him some good.

And that was exactly what he decided to do.

And because it wasn't something he despised and actually enjoyed so much, he did it for the rest of the day.

And the rest of the day was disorderly, chaotic, and maybe a bit messy, but it was without a doubt a blast.

So no, not an ounce of him regretted it.

It was 8:00 p.m. when they finally made it to karaoke.

This was it. The last event of the night.

Ordering a private room, french fries, and an hour of fun free time, they realized how liberated they were to let their hearts out and scream at the top of their lungs and totally embarrass themselves in front of the people next door—they were one hundred percent sure they'd be able to hear them through the walls.

Or maybe that was just Mina. Izuku twiddled his thumbs too much and stuttered every seven seconds and couldn't have formed a coherent sentence if he tried. Nevermind a song.

"So, what are you in the mood for? Pop? Rock? Rap? Metallica?"

"Well, um, I usually like to listen to upbeat stuff. Like power pop and pop rock and maybe metallica if I'm feeling kinda down."

Mina was floored.

They had totally different music tastes.

"How about you?" he asked.

"Um, well, definitely not that. Pop and dubstep. Indie every once in a while. The like."

"Oh. Uh, this is gonna be tough."

Mina smiled, leaning into him a little. As soon as their bodies bopped, her heart set fire, skipped a few beats. "True. But when is it not tough for us?"

She waved her hands frantically in front of her face. "Not that we won't work out! I just mean tough as in different. We're, uh, definitely different."

God, that was the last thing she wanted him thinking.

He laughed. "No, no, I get it. I think I'm being honest here when I say we don't have much in common."

She nodded.

And so they spent a good bulk of their hour just trying to find their first song.

And, as if not totally unexpected, neither of them could agree, constantly flipping through their phones and whatever else they could grab hold of looking for at least a little something to take up their time, as music wasn't going to cut it. It wasn't until Izuku got an idea, a wonderful, witty, wild idea, that the night would totally flip upside down, turning on its own head.

"What about what we used to dance to?"

Mina picked her head up. "What?"

"Like the songs! Back when you and I were just getting to know each other. Back when you were giving me dance lessons. Remember?"

"Yeah, but I don't really remember the songs specifically," she said.

"I can name a few—those that really stuck with me."

And so he told her them. Many of them were Mina's tastes, not his. But they decided to give them a try.

The first three were a bust. It wasn't until the fourth one that they knew they'd found their song.

Mina began belting at the top of her lungs. She only knew some of the lyrics, the chorus and a few of the verses, but it was enough to get her going.

And Izuku going as well.

Still somewhat self-conscious, he started out singing just softly under his breath. "I met her on the balcony at my brother's best friend's… And it wasn't long before I knew her name and we were dancing the night away… Oh! Dancing the night away!"

The chorus came on, and cheerfully, Mina, like nails on a chalkboard, chimed in. Izuku, a little apprehensive, eventually convinced himself to start singing along too, neither of their voices something special. In fact, they made each other's ears bleed.

But they were too far gone to care.

Mina grabbed hold of Izuku's hands. They started standing up, the dancing beginning just halfway through. And suddenly they were spinning and holding each other close and dancing so delicately they'd lost track of time, singing as if they were the stars of this song.

"I can't sing!" Izuku shouted, smiling boldly and blissfully and beautifully, music on full blast.

"Neither can I!" she cried back, spinning around and around, feeling so free she almost forgot to get dizzy. But eventually it did catch up to her, messing with her head in waves.

And as soon as she could stand up straight she kissed him.

And he kissed back. Hard.

He held her hands, squeezed them a little to let her know she had him and wouldn't let go. She squeezed back to say the same.

Their song played just faintly in the background, drowned out by their own electrifying bliss, strobe lights shining all over the place casting this pretty pink glow as the disco ball hung high over their heads, enlivening the mood even more than it'd enlivened already. It was chaotic yet calming. Beautiful yet rebellious. They were not supposed to be kissing in the karaoke booth.

But they were. Stupidly, they were, holding each other close refusing to let go, knowing what they were doing was wrong.

In terms of the law, at least—maybe more like morality.

But in their minds it was right.

And Mina knew, right then, that they could make it work. Despite their many differences and his look-on-the-downside attitude, she knew they could make it work. He did too. They'd do anything to make it work. Not only could they make it work, but they would.

And so she smiled in the midst of their kiss, holding back her forever glee. And as soon as she was smiling so was he.

He slipped his fingers out from between her hands and brought them down to her waist. Slowly, he trailed further and further down, to her hips and then the small of her back. And that was where he'd stay, reluctant to go any lower. She wasn't sure whether she liked that or not.

As she was about to go further.

Her hands traveled further down his body until she hit the hem of his shirt. Without a beat of hesitation, she slipped them under, traveling back up his stomach and his chest. Through skin and bone, she could feel his heart beating, thrashing wildly in the palm of her hand. "Is this okay?" she asked, breaking away from their kiss.

He nodded, face flushed.

She went back in. This time with tongue.

And they kissed until their song was over, and then the next, and then the next, until time finally caught up with them, totally catching them off guard.

Izuku pulled away. "S-Sorry! That might've been a little too far—"

Mina wrapped her arms around him, burying her head comfortably into the crook of his shoulder. "No. Don't worry about it. It wasn't. I actually really liked it."

"So… You don't think we're moving too quickly?"

"For how long I've liked you? No. It feels natural."

Izuku nodded. For any typical romance, he would admit that this would be moving too fast. But for him and Mina, it felt familiar, felt right. Nothing felt out of order or inappropriate.

"Yeah…" he said, holding her tighter. The two sat back down, still in each other's arms, picking a few more songs to sing before their time was up.

They were all songs they used to dance to before.

And then they headed home.

But before they could reach the train station, they were momentarily stopped, a park with pretty white lights and colorful scenery and a bright blue water fountain nearly irresistible to them, as they had to go in and see.

And so, at 9:30 at night, they took a walk, knowing in the back of their minds that the train they were supposed to catch left at 10:00.

Oh well. The subway was a mere five minutes away. They'd make it.

And so they sat down on a bench, holding each other close, eyes up at the starry night sky.

Mina pointed out a few constellations, memories she'd kept hidden away in the back of her mind readily available for times like these. Many were ones from that night, that night in the beginning of February when they'd had their whole argument over whether or not the universe was infinite or finite. That was the night, she reckoned, she first realized she was falling in love with this boy, but was far too afraid to admit it.

Now it was nothing new.

She rested her head on his shoulder, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He blushed.

"W-What was that for?" he asked, suddenly so self-conscious.

"I don't know. Just kinda felt like it," she said. It was funny to her how making out didn't make him nearly as flustered as something so chaste.

And then, in an act of retaliation, he kissed her on the lips.

It was only a moment. She breathed heavily, sitting up straight for those lasting few seconds, until he pulled away.

He exploded into a brilliant shade of red.

Covering his mouth, he started stuttering. She hoped he'd calm down. She hated seeing him scared.

"It's okay, Izu. Relax. Surprise me with a kiss whenever you want. I'll never not like it," she said, sliding slightly closer to him.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. It's just that you're usually the one to kiss first, and I kinda got carried away—"

"I like when you get carried away."

That didn't help at all.

She hugged him until he could think straight again. Then, as the clock hit 9:45, they decided they'd better go.

They just marginally made it on time.

And in an instant, they were back at U.A.

It all felt far too fast.

When they arrived back at the dorms, some of their classmates were still downstairs in the common room, heads turning as soon as they walked in. They let go of each other's hands.

"You two were out for a while," Iida inquired.

Izuku looked all over the place, glad to see Uraraka wasn't anywhere in the near vicinity. "Yeah. Um, we were in the city," he said.

"Doing what?" Iida asked.

"Movies. Karaoke. The like."

Kaminari chipped in. "Oh? Was it a date?"

They both blushed.

"So it was."

"Yeah," Mina mumbled. She wouldn't have been so embarrassed if they hadn't seen her kissing him just the other day, still with the mindset that he and Uraraka were completely unscathed and still going strong. Which, she should be honest, they were. Now she felt she needed to explain herself. "We got everything sorted out. Uraraka's okay, and so are we. You don't need to worry about tension anymore."

Kaminari smiled, gave a huge thumbs-up. "Awesome! Well, I mean, I don't really know what happened, but I guess I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks," Mina started. "I'm happy, too," she said, staring up at Izuku with these beautifully bright eyes and bright smile, cheeks flushed and face free. He smiled back.

So, how many people knew about them? Mina counted. Kaminari, Kirishima, Iida, Jirou, and Bakugou. Not a long list.

Bakugo, in an already-pissy mood, all of a sudden got angrier, set off by these two lovebirds. "Ugh, stop looking at each other like that, will you? Stupid shitty Deku," he hurled, mumbling that last part under his breath.

It was then that Mina realized she needed to go through with the next part of her plan: talk to Uraraka.

She whispered to Izuku, "I'm going to talk to her, okay? You know who."

He nodded. He was a little upset he didn't get to spend more time with her, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she was back—hopefully with good news.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**  
Mina knocked at Uraraka's door. She'd texted her initially not too long ago to let her know she was coming, and Uraraka had given her the okay.

Uraraka answered, and her standing at the doorway felt all so surreal. So surreal for the both of them.

"Hi," Mina started.

"Hi," Uraraka said back.

Uraraka started by apologizing. "Listen, remember when I said I didn't want to be your friend? Well, that was a lie. I don't want to lose you over a boy. I was just heated, and still am, but I know you didn't mean to hurt me, and I know how easily love can take over—"

Mina hugged her. "Oh, thank God. Ochako, I'm so glad. I couldn't imagine you hating me. I'd break in two. But, I mean, it's not like I could be mad at you since you do have every right to."

"Yeah…" Uraraka trailed off. "But I won't. I'm obviously still upset, but I can't stay that way forever. I love you, Mina. I could never see myself hating you."

"But I fucked up so bad."

"I know," Uraraka said, calmly rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry for taking him away from you. I'm sorry for hiding it from you for so long. I'm sorry for not thinking of you and telling it straight to your face and stupidly letting you find out in _the_ worst way, embarrassing you in front of the entirety of Class 1-A. And embarrassing myself. And Midoriya. I'm really, really freaking sorry."

"It's okay," Uraraka agreed. "I know. And I accept your apology."

"I accept yours, too," Mina began back, eyes brimming with tears. "Except you have literally nothing to apologize for."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is."

Uraraka smiled, rolled her eyes, decidedly changing the subject. "So, anyway, how was your date?"

"Good," Mina said, with all good intentions sparing the details. Uraraka was in the most delicate stages of her heartbreak, a gentle flower not to be touched.

"I'm glad," Uraraka replied.

Uraraka hid her head in her shoulders, so overjoyed to finally be telling the truth. She'd been lying to herself all this time, lying to her friends, but now, finally, she was starting to get somewhere, no longer grieving over Izuku. In fact, she was actually incredibly happy for him—and her.

"And you're being honest? You're not just saying this 'cause that's what I wanna hear? I wanna know you're okay, Ochako. Tell me."

"Yes. I'm being one hundred percent honest. I'm already starting to get over this. Mina, you and I can be friends. _He_ and I can be friends. We can all start to be friends again."

Mina held her tight. "Oh, I'm so glad! And so, so sorry!"

"Me too," Uraraka said, smiling and wondering whether or not she'd cry, saying to herself that no, she had no reason to cry, and that crying now would just make her weak, meek, and she most certainly wouldn't allow herself to. She had no real reason.

"Mina, I love you and forgive you, and you can let go now. Just… at least for a little while, don't go around showing it off, okay? I know you like him a lot, but—"

"I know what you mean. I won't. I know that would hurt you."

"Not that it would necessarily hurt me," Uraraka said, feigning fortitude, pretending to be at least a little less upset than she looked. And it worked. Mina didn't question it. Because, in all honesty, it did hurt her. It hurt her just a little, a scratch at the surface of the skin, her wounds unwilling to heal for quite a while. "It's just that I'm not ready for that yet. I mean, you can, if you really want to, but I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Don't worry. I won't."

And with that, Mina finally let go.

"I love you, Ochako. And if I haven't said it enough, I'm really, truly sorry."

She laughed. "No, Mina, you've definitely said it enough."

Mina gave her this blank stare.

"Oh, just go!" Uraraka said, shoving her out the door. "People are probably down there waiting for you."

She wasn't wrong. She needed to go see Izuku.

"Bye, Ocha!"

Uraraka waved back at her down the hall. "Bye!"

And so, as soon as she shut the door, slowly sliding down to the dorm room floor, she let out this huge sigh of relief that this whole mess was finally almost over, no longer feeling the need for tears.

Instead, she just sat there, somewhere between sadness and satisfaction.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**  
Mina headed downstairs. "Have any of you seen Midoriya?" she asked, worried when she'd hurriedly spanned the entirety of Class 1-A's common area and still hadn't seen him. She'd left on such a sad note. She needed to at least say goodnight, hopefully even goodbye, kiss him one last time, even if it was just on the cheek.

The three of them, the three who were still downstairs, shook their head. Kaminari asked, "So I presume you're not cheating?"

"Nope. Uraraka knew about our date and was fine with it. Trust me, we've done it the right way, gotten it all squared away. We've already got it handled."

"Alrighty, then. I guess I'm glad for you two. Although I still don't get what you see in him, I'm glad you've found someone who makes you happy. Or, at least I hope he makes you happy."

Mina, a little repulsed by Kaminari's comments but reluctant to start a fight, twiddled her thumbs. "He does. He most certainly does."

And on that note, Mina showered, brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas, and got ready for bed.

Although it wasn't her room she was heading to.

It was Izuku's.

She hesitated before knocking on his door. What if he'd left, and she was doing this all in vain? What if she was about to see something obscene?

She shrugged. She couldn't have cared less if she tried.

And so she knocked. Once. Twice.

And Izuku opened up.

He looked surprised to see her. "M-Mina? What're you doing here?"

"Um, well, I don't really know, to be honest. I kinda just came up here… to come up here? I don't know. I wanted to tell you what Uraraka said and talk to you some more, since our date didn't really end on the greatest of notes."

"O-Oh, well, in that case, come in."

Mina had seen his room over FaceTime before, but never in person. His All Might memorabilia stood out like a sore thumb, posters patterned with pretty protruding colors and bright blasting neons and slogans screaming "Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!"—all of which lined up neatly along his walls. It was almost surreal to see—that she could possibly even consider this big of a fanboy her boyfriend.

Speaking of, they had not yet made it official. She was hoping to tie that knot tonight.

She blushed. Once again she reiterated the fact that she meant with only her _words_. She realized how wrong that sounded.

"It's… kind of weird being in your room."

"Yeah. To be honest, it usually isn't this neat. I just happened to clean it before you got here. You got lucky."

"Guess so," she giggled. She suddenly got all serious. "So, um, I was wondering, since I was kind of sad you didn't get to stay the night last night, maybe I could stay the night tonight?"

Izuku burst into a bright red blush. "M-Mina, you mean—"

"No, no! Of course not. Izu, I know you're not ready for that yet. Neither am I. I just mean, like, y'know…."

"Sleep with me in my bed? Then yes. I want to. Really want to."

"Yeah. That's exactly what I mean."

"Did you already get ready? Brushed your teeth and everything?"

"Yup."

"Okay, well, um, I still need to brush mine, so I'll be right back."

"Okay."

And with that, Izuku was off, leaving Mina all alone and on her own to do whatever she wanted with his room and his things and his action figures and memorabilia—but she bet he didn't think of that. He never did. Maybe he trusted her too much.

Not that she would ever do any of those things, nor did she mind that he trusted her, but now that she had the opportunity, she thought she'd mess around a little.

She knelt down by his bed and buried her head into a big bulk of his blankets, holding them close. They smelled just like him, what he smelled like on their first date, just faintly of citrus and sweet herbs and strong spices. It was a smell so overwhelmingly calm.

She sat up straight as soon as he came back from the bathroom.

"What's up?" Izuku asked.

"Nothing," she mumbled. She looked like a muddled mess.

"Okay…" he trailed off, tilting his head, clearly quite confused.

In an effort to change the subject, she started talking, talking about whatever came to mind. "I want to make this official."

Oh, God. That wasn't what she had planned.

Oh well. Looked like she'd have to roll with it.

"Y-You and me?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, and before he inevitably asked the question, she answered it for him. "And I talked to Uraraka. She seems fine. I said sorry, and she was more than happy to accept. She said sorry too, even though I said she has nothing to apologize for. She said she _wants_ us to be together, to be happy, just not to go around showing it off."

And Mina would stand by that. She'd stand by the not-showing-it-off part.

"O-Oh. That's good. I was expecting her to be a little more angry than that."

"Yeah, me too. But I let her know just how happy I was to be friends again, and how much I missed her. She said the same."

Izuku smiled, sighed. "Uraraka's too kind. She'll find someone who's right for her. No doubt about it."

"Yeah," Mina started, letting out a little lasting breath. "So, about you and me… Do you want to ask first, or…"

"Oh! Uh, sure. Mina, I was wondering if, maybe after all this, you'd perhaps like to be my girlfriend?"

He was so sweet. The way he scratched the side of his cheek, blushed bright red, looked away before reluctantly meeting her eyes in an effort to seem less scared to ask that all-too-endearing question—it all screamed weak, meek, shy, submissive, the exact opposite of strong, strange for one of Class 1-A's topmost performers. And, despite it being perceived as a negative quality by most, she liked it. She loved him for it. She loved him for a lot of things.

"Yes. Definitely yes."

She smiled, filling the few-second silence.

"So, with that said, would you maybe lay with me?"

He glanced her up and down, head in her hands on the edge of the bed patiently waiting for his response. He couldn't possibly say no.

"O-Of course. And, uh, sorry my bed's not made."

"It's okay," she said, peering down at his allegedly-messy sheets, wondering where he went wrong. It looked like he'd been rolling around in them. "Half the time I don't make mine."

He climbed in first, sliding a little further down toward the wall. He patted the spot beside him, inviting her in.

She ran right over to him, jumping beside him in bed.

"Are you comfy?" Izuku asked as soon as she seemed settled.

"Yeah." She sure did seem snuggly, and feel snuggly—almost too snug, her heart hammering wildly in and out of her chest. She bundled up next to him in a ball. "You're warm."

She suddenly felt mischievous. In one swift motion, she grabbed hold of his hand.

"M-Mina, what're you doing—"

She climbed on top of him, swinging her legs rambunctiously up in the air, and as she ran circles along the center of his chest, the feeling of his heartbeat pulsing in her palm lighting her up inside, she sighed—just softly, but all of a sudden, all too soon. It got him all riled up.

"M-Mina!" he started, suddenly so self-conscious. She didn't blame him. She was too. With her whole body pressed up against him, she knew he could feel everything, judge her if he really wanted to. Her clothes weren't necessarily revealing, but gravity had taken its toll.

But Izuku wouldn't do that. And even if he did, he'd hopefully find her appealing.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

"Um, yeah! More than okay. But—"

"I'm not going to do anything to you. I know you don't want to. I just miss your touch."

Izuku's face flushed. With slow and shaky hands, he, in the most gentle way possible, wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her and bringing her close and inevitably leaving her immobile. Immobile in a good way, immobile in a please-don't-leave kind of way.

She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, legs no longer kicking. She stayed still.

And then she started smiling.

"I'm so happy," she said, cheeks lavender, tip of her nose lilac.

"Why?" he asked, his nose rose.

"Because I finally get to be with you. Because I can finally lay here and call myself your girlfriend."

He smiled. "And I your boyfriend."

"Yup."

"Me too, for all those same reasons."

Mina rolled back over onto her side of the bed, giving him a little bit of breathing room. She thought about telling him she loved him, as she'd already done so before, but she decided that for now that should probably be a one-time thing, as that would be delving too far into their relationship too fast.

And so she held off, curling up next to him and giving him the sweetest, most loving look. That would be enough for now.

Well, maybe not quite. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

And instead of stuttering, he gave her one right back.

"If I fall asleep now, don't wake me up."

"Okay," Izuku said. "I won't."

He twiddled around with his phone for a little while whilst using his hands as a headrest, absentmindedly scrolling through Instagram and other apps in order to keep himself busy. He didn't want to wake her, and was even too nervous to roll over, lay anywhere else, lay anywhere too close to her. Mina played with his hair, curled the little loose strands around her fingers in a desperate attempt to fill the empty silence before eventually drifting off to sleep, leaving Izuku all alone.

He turned back around to greet her.

He sighed. She wasn't subtle when she slept. In fact, she was a snorer.

He found it quite innocent, quite amusing. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Y'know, Mina, I really love you."

He wouldn't dare say it when she was awake.

He patted her head. Luckily she didn't stir.

"Let's go on a date again sometime."

He liked to imagine she agreed.

And then, still wearing this unbelievably bright smile on his face, this smile of pure intensity and satisfaction and an inkling of, to him, what seemed like true love, he continued to face her, examining her beautiful features. Her eyelashes were this pretty pink color, just barely lighter than her skin, nearly reaching the tops of her eyelids. She did have a few freckles, which he had failed to notice, just masked by her willful complexion. Her eyebrows were short but defined, her lips light lavender.

He found her incredibly stunning.

And in an attempt to stymie his squeals, he bit down on the tip of his tongue. Hard.

His eyes began to water.

Maybe that was enough Mina for one night.

And so, getting one last look at the beautiful face before him, Izuku closed his eyes, softly slipping off into sleep.

That night his dreams were sweet.

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
** **  
A/N:** _I really can't thank you guys enough. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for voting. Thank you for just enjoying. It really means a lot to me!_

 _Next chapter should be out in a week or so, maybe less! Expect it to be short—3,000 or 4,000 or so words. Enjoy this last home stretch!_


	20. Chapter 20 - Daytime Escapade

**A/N:** _Hey, guys! This is a little late—sorry about that. I haven't been doing too good these past few weeks, but I'm powering through. It'll all be alright._

 _As for the chapter situation, there isn't much left in terms of storyline. Just two more chapters, sadly, and I'll have this book completed. I'm honestly blown away at the support and love I've received throughout, so really just thank you all. Bless you guys. I don't know what I'd do without you._

 _I'm pretty proud of this chapter. It's really just a bridge chapter between the last chapter and the next, but I thought it served its purpose well. There are some minor things I'd change, but for now it isn't a big deal. Hope you all enjoy!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Izuku woke up the next morning with her in his arms. 

He was too scared to move. Any slight stir would wake her, knock her out of her seemingly sweet dreams. 

But she was lying lifelessly on top of his arm. And over the course of the night, it'd gone numb. 

Slowly but surely, he just marginally managed to slip it out from under her, sliding it an inch or two toward his side each second. She did stir every once in a while, startling him, but would inevitably go back to sleep. 

Once he broke free, he decided he'd wait awhile. 

_Just a few more minutes,_ he thought. 

That was right. Just a few more minutes in heaven, in paradise, until he'd have to go back to the vanilla, mundane world, maybe more like hell. 

She rolled back over to face him. She snored, the start of a stray snot bubble bursting out from under her nose. He recoiled back in disgust, maybe a hint of delight. Not the kind of delight you'd think of, but more of an amusement kind of delight. 

He found her funny, especially when she smiled like that in her sleep, so innocent and pure and completely unaware of what she had just done much to his merriment mere moments prior. 

Simultaneously, she said, "No, no, no! I said french fry, not cream pie…" 

She must have been dreaming up something good. 

Her mouth watered, just lightly licking her lips, and she seemed so hungry. Izuku checked the time. 

It was a little past nine. 

He heard a low grumble, and it took him a second to realize it was the sound of her stomach rumbling, rolling over in longing under the covers. As if on queue, his did as well. He decided it'd be best if he woke her up to go get some breakfast. 

He tapped her on the shoulder. 

With bed head so bad her bangs had become her biggest barricade, Mina sat up, rubbing her eyes, looked a little to the left and realized it was Izuku sitting there next to her and took a few seconds to be stunned all over again before coming to the realization that yes, last night did actually happen, and it wasn't just a dream. She'd slept so soundly she couldn't tell the two apart—what was her imagination and what was really reality. 

"Good morning," Mina started. 

She turned back around, watching his cheeks flush this vibrant shade of red. Upon second glance, he was a couple inches closer to her than he was last night. 

"Izu, did you... hold me in your sleep?" 

And at that point he lit up like a wildfire. 

She plopped back down on the bed, the least bit hesitant to hug him. "Aw! I can't believe I missed it!" 

Nervously, he let out a little laugh, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. 

He was always so anxious. 

But he was starting to get the better of it. 

And it was a good kind of anxious. A giddy-and-glad kind of anxious, just terrified to get too close. 

"Mina, do you wanna go get some food?" 

"Yes. I'm starving." 

And so Mina toppled off of him and toward the other side of the bed, rolling onto the floor. Still in her pajamas and unsure of how she was going to get down inconspicuously, she asked, "So… What now?" 

"What do you mean, 'What now?'" 

"Like… How am I supposed to get downstairs without raising suspicion?" 

"Oh. Crap." 

Izuku hadn't thought of that. And now both of them were in a bind. 

"Um, well, I have a hair brush," he said. He ran to the bathroom and grabbed it out of the bin for her. "And I don't know what to do about your clothes—" 

In the middle of his intellectual interpretation, she all of a sudden interrupted him, holding her head up high. "Oh! I know! How about I wear one of your hoodies? I mean, I've already got sweatpants on, so it won't look too weird." 

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "But, Mina, all of my hoodies have… All Might on them." 

"What about your U.A. hoodie? You didn't keep it? I would have assumed you'd kept yours." At the beginning of the year, each student was handed out a hoodie in commemoration of getting accepted into such a highly prestigious high school, even the first years. She'd kept hers as a prize, almost as a pride and joy. 

"I actually think I might." And in an insatiable search he went digging, tearing apart his closet, throwing old clothes behind him and everywhere all over the place in his room. "Ah! Here it is!" he finally said, holding up a wrinkled heap of cotton. He threw it back at her. 

She headed into the bathroom to change. 

She was a little sad it didn't exactly smell like him, as it'd been left on the closet floor for so long, but the fact she even was wearing a hoodie of his was plenty good enough. 

She'd take what she could get. _Gladly,_ she thought. 

She strutted out the door with an indescribable amount of confidence, an almost overwhelming one, one not masked by fear. Teeth brushed (Izuku had a few spare tubes of toothpaste lying around by his sink) and a tidbit of makeup (the little she'd brought along) dabbed onto the more oily parts of her skin, she was feeling ready to go. "You like?" she asked, giving him a twirl around. 

"Yeah. It suits you." He smiled. 

She would admit that it was a little too long. The armpits were fat and fanned out when she lifted them up, and anyone who took more than a first glance would know this wasn't her hoodie. 

But she didn't mind. 

And so she prepared to walk out that door, ditzy and dolled up. They'd already agreed that she would head out first, and then Izuku would follow a few minutes later. 

But he stopped her long before any of that could happen. 

"Mina, can we... maybe keep this quiet?" 

"Hm?" she asked. 

"Like… you and I sharing a bed? It'd be a little weird if people knew." 

She turned back around, gave him one of the sweetest, most purest smiles he'd ever seen, and right then he knew that whatever was about to come out of her mouth would without a doubt be the truth. "Yeah! Of course. If anyone asks I'll tell them it's none of their business. And if they keep pestering me I'll ignore 'em." 

Now this was a Mina he'd never met before. 

He nodded. "Yup. And I'll do the same." 

"Yup!" 

And so, still wearing that same smile, she carefully closed the door, shutting it back behind her with a wink and a weary walk, feet suddenly going in seconds from slow to somewhat speedy as she hurriedly headed down the hall. 

All of a sudden he missed her. 

He sighed, jumping back in bed, hugging the pillow she'd laid on last night tight. It still smelled like her—her hair, her perfume, her everything—just so authentically _her_. 

He shook his head. He couldn't keep her waiting for too long. He said he'd be down soon, and so, still not dressed, he stood up, the smell of her still stuck on him like moth drawn to a flame, not that he necessarily minded, and got ready in a raring rush. 

In fact, he couldn't have cared if he tried. 

**\- o - o - o -**

Mina emerged from the elevator fresh as a daisy, delightful as a little delilah. 

Luckily, no one had noticed her atypical attire, merely passing by her as if she were a weed in a garden full of flowers. 

But Jirou, always keeping a watchful eye on her, wasn't so susceptible. 

"I'm not so sure that's your shirt." 

Mina's shoulders stiffened. In a plight, she simply just stood there in shock as she practically pummeled her plate of pancakes on the floor. 

"'Course it is," Mina lied. "Why would it not be?" 

"Mina, be honest here. It's three sizes too big." She checked the tag. "You're a medium in women's, not men's. And you never wear your clothes all wrinkly. Nevermind a sweatshirt with sweatpants." 

She sighed. "Okay, fine. You got me." Mina moved in close. "But could you maybe keep it down a bit?" 

"Yeah. Wait, so… It's Midoriya's, right?" 

"Uh, yeah, obviously." 

Jirou, mouth agape, grabbed hold of her cheeks. " _No._ " 

"'No' what?" 

"You two didn't have sex—" 

Mina, in an impetuous moment of panic, immediately brought her hand up to Jirou's still-stuttering lips, silencing her for so long. She only let it down when she was sure she wouldn't say anything. 

"Most definitely not!" 

"But you were together last night," Jirou whispered. 

There was a pause. "Yes," Mina replied. "I couldn't get back to my room in time to grab my stuff, hence me wearing his. Now no more questions, okay? I promised Izuku I'd keep this quiet." 

Jirou raised an eyebrow. If there was anything she was expecting out of Mina, of all people, it sure wasn't that. "Hey, you do you, I guess." She slapped her on the small of her back, Mina jumping emphatically out of her seat. With everyone now at the table, they had to be much more discreet. "I'm proud of you, going and getting your man." 

Mina smiled at that. 

And it was at that very moment that Izuku finally made it downstairs. 

"Midoriya! You're late," Iida called, completely unaware as to why. It made Mina chuckle. 

She shut up as soon as half the class turned a blind eye to their just-joining classmate and instead stared at her. 

"Yeah, sorry," he said. "I woke up past my alarm." 

So that was his excuse. 

He sat down somewhere near her, as close to her as he could get, with all due respect still sitting with his fondest friends, the stereotypical Dekusquad. Bakugo had given them that name—Izuku didn't have the arrogance for that—and it had just kind of stuck. The table was teeming—he wasn't wasting time trying to scooch any closer to her only to end up next to people he didn't really know. That would be a bummer, especially for such a big breakfast. 

And so, in a flustered flurry, he somehow ended up right where he wanted to be, right smack dab in the middle of Iida and Todoroki and across from Asui and Uraraka. And just outside of his line of vision was Mina, who he'd peer at every once in a while with longing and a little bit of lust. 

She did, too, and not what she'd call coincidentally. 

And in doing so they'd catch each other's eyes every so often and smile. 

**\- o - o - o -**

After breakfast, Jirou patted Mina on the back. "Mina! Let's go dress shopping together!" 

Mina turned around, smiled. Today was not the first day she was much more over the moon than she should be. 

Or maybe, she thought, it was justified. "Sure!" she said. "Why don't we invite the other girls, too?" 

Jirou called over Yaoyorozu, and then Hagakure, and then Uraraka and Asui. "You guys down to go dress shopping?" 

"Today?" Yaoyorozu asked. 

"Uh, sure. Why not?" 

"Where?" 

"The mall. _If_ that's where you guys wanna go." 

Everyone looked around at each other, wondering who would protest, and when no one did, they nodded their heads. 

They raced upstairs to get ready. 

And then something occurred to Mina. 

She had completely forgotten to ask Izuku to the dance. 

First, she'd pick out a dress. 

And then she'd find a way to work it by him. 

_Tonight,_ she thought. She was going to run it by him tonight. 

**\- o - o - o -**

At the mall, half the girls had already found their dress when Mina was still searching, Jirou joining her as she went through racks and racks of clothes on clearance, coming to the realization that many of them were much too ugly to even come close to anything she'd wear. Too short, too flowy, a few too frilly. 

It wasn't until she moved into the more expensive section, much to the detriment of her wallet, that she found what she was looking for. 

Black was her color. That was long since already decided. 

So when she found a black dress, one short but cute with a little bit of character, she couldn't help but immediately fall in love. 

"This is the one," she said. " _Please_ let there be a medium!" 

She let out the hugest sigh of relief as soon as she found one. 

She showed it to Jirou. Jirou beamed. "That is _so_ cute! It'll look great on you!" 

In the dressing room, she spun around and around, checking herself out in the mirror. The hem of her dress rested just above her knees, the perfect height to just marginally make it through the entirety of the school dance without getting dress coded. And, well, if it didn't, screw school. Screw school rules. 

At the bottom of her dress lied lace, ever so slightly frilly, and an off-the-shoulder kind of cut on top. Lace lined that part too. She hoped how tightly it hugged her curves and hips and even her waist would have Izuku falling at her feet. 

If he wasn't already doing so. 

She started spinning, dancing, singing like a lovesick loon. She imagined him hugging her, holding her close, hearts beating in tandem to the rhythm of a super slow song. 

Uraraka would let them show off then, right? Just for that night? 

"Mina? Hello? You in here?" 

She relaxed, composed herself, grabbed hold of her cheeks as soon as she heard that easily recognizable voice—Jirou. 

She cleared her throat. "Y-Yeah. What's up?" 

"Did you already try on that dress?" 

"Um, yeah. I have it on right now." 

"Can I see?" 

"Sure," she said, eager to not only make room for her but also open the curtains. In satisfying her friend's curiosity, she'd get some much-needed feedback, a different outlook other than the one from herself. Although, she already had a feeling she knew what she'd say. 

"Do a quick twirl around," Jirou said. 

Mina did, once again thinking of Izuku. 

"Yup. I'd say get it." 

"I'm going to." Mina looked at herself once more in the mirror, smiled. 

And, Izuku still stuck in her eyes and on her mind and lighting her up inside, she changed back into her jeans and t-shirt, dress in hand, hurrying to check out and meet up with the girls who were already long gone looking for something to eat. 

Jirou and her bolted up the escalator and over to the other side of the mall. 

They made it just in time to find their friends already digging into an enticing entrée of Chinese food. 

"You guys could have texted us," Mina huffed, hands on her knees. 

Hagakure picked up her chopsticks, pointing accusingly at the two of them. "We did. Neither of you answered." 

They both hurriedly checked their phones. 

15 unread messages. 

"Oh, God. We're so sorry." 

"It's okay! We all decided on this"—she gestured toward her plate—"and thought maybe you two would like it, but if you don't, we can get you something else—" 

"No, no," Jirou protested. "It's fine." She walked over and took a chair from a nearby table and set it down next to Yaoyorozu's. "This looks _so_ good." 

Mina did the same. 

She began a feisty feast as the girls went around and shared their newly beloved dresses. 

Asui had bought bright yellow, a sundress, white undertones keeping it from stealing the spotlight. It was a bit shorter than she'd expected, she told them, but she still loved it unconditionally anyway. A bit of breaking-the-school-dress-code wasn't going to ruin her night. 

Yaoyorozu had picked pink, a bit of a peplum blouse kind of look—the sleeves were short and the waist was tight but the hips were kind of wide. It was frilly around the edges and would've gone perfect with a long, loose necklace, which she had gone above and beyond and bought. A diamond pendant hung down from the middle, a few extra chains dangling up above it to tie it all together. It gave her this princessy kind of look, royal and regal and just straight up stunning. 

Jirou's was navy blue, a simple spaghetti strap, but even from afar Mina could tell it would look great on her. 

Hagakure's was white, one that was tight and would show off her figure, which was in fact very full-formed despite her inherited invisibility. It boasted a few flowers, light blue peonies and irises and others much more indigo, lurking up above the shoulders all the way down to her waistline. It was the kind of dress that gave dresses their name. 

Uraraka's was last. Red and flowy, the frills almost floating—it was so unremarkably her, almost as if it were fate. For a moment Mina was sad, realizing that Uraraka couldn't show off to anyone and she was the real reason for that. But then she remembered she couldn't let herself get guilty. Uraraka wouldn't allow that. 

"Oh my God, Ochako. It matches you so well," Yaoyorozu started, beginning the inklings of a conversation. 

"You kinda seem… in your element, in a sort of way. Definitely your type," Jirou said, smiling. 

Uraraka looked down, fumbled with her fingers in her lap. "Aw. Thank you, guys." 

"Anytime, girl! You're gorgeous." 

Uncontrollably, Uraraka smiled, cheeks flushed. 

Mina leaned over the edge of her seat, grabbed hold of Uraraka's hands. "It's true! Uraraka, if I looked like you, I wouldn't know how to act." 

Uraraka looked up, not as startled as she would've once been by Mina's presence. "Oh, stop. If I were you I wouldn't either." 

They had a good laugh at that. 

And then the rest of the girls started laughing. 

And all of a sudden they understood. 

The tension had finally risen, the curtains finally drawn. 

There was no real reason to be afraid, no real reason to worry about relationships being ruined or the eradication of their friend group—there were plenty more memories to come, plenty more bright spots and crying spells and sleepless Saturday nights sprawled out on the couch with a bunch of bags of chips and crummy TV remotes in hand. 

No boy would ruin their fun. 

Their night came to a standstill, them finishing off with eating dessert and Mina finally getting to show off her dress (which they all seemed to like) and then them heading home, taking the train back to Musutafu and the scenic route back to the U.A. dorms. The boys had barely noticed they were gone, except for Mineta and Kaminari, of course. Although, they were a different breed of boy. 

Izuku had hung out with Iida and Todoroki so long he'd neglected to notice Uraraka and Asui's return. The two took a quick trip upstairs and then sat down next to them on the couch. 

"You two were out awhile," Iida said, pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. 

"Just a few hours. Isn't that normal for a Sunday? We went out dress shopping," Uraraka said, following it up with a quick "And before you ask, no, you cannot see. No one is seeing until Friday." 

Uraraka gave a nervous nod in Izuku's direction, to which he gave one so willingly and even-temperedly back she no longer felt the need for copious amounts of unnecessary anxiety. It was nice, being able to talk to him normally like that. She smiled, her facial features no longer taut. 

Little did she know, Izuku wasn't too keen himself on saying hello. Something still scared him about it; something didn't feel right. But he knew in his heart, over time, things would get better—less awkward, less rigid, less troublesome for the rest of the group. And soon enough it would be like nothing had ever happened. 

Well, something did happen. It just wouldn't be a big deal. 

Plus, that was what she'd asked for, right? A little less space? 

And for the rest of the night, those last few hours they spent together doing homework and letting out the creative capabilities they didn't have time to show off during the week, that seemed to be the case. 

Iida and Asui and Todoroki and even every once in a while Tokoyami didn't find any time for it to be awkward. 

And neither did they. 

_Just a little while longer,_ Izuku thought, _until things are normal again._

 _But for now, we'll just take baby steps._

Baby steps, he thought—and one day they'd get there. 

**\- o - o - o -**

It was a little past nine, moments before he was about to hop up the elevator and head upstairs, when Izuku was pulled aside by a familiar pink face, one with great fervor in her golden fevered eyes. She led him into one of the two vacant laundry rooms, the only one with the washing machine still running, a little bit of a much-too-mischievous grin lining her lips as she finally let go of the hand she'd been holding onto so tight. 

"M-Mina, I was about to go to bed, y'know—" 

"Yeah, but, before that, I have something to ask." 

"What?" he asked. 

She took his palms and held them, rubbing slow circles over the skin on the back of his hand. "I know we're official now, but I thought that maybe this should be done… professionally. And I know because we are official I might not even need to ask, but I'm going to anyway, just in case. So, Izuku, this Friday, will you go to the dance with me?" 

He cupped her hands slightly, smiling softly. "Yes. Of course. And it's alright. Honestly, I didn't even think to ask. I would've. I swear." 

Mina—mind at ease and at peace and jumping with joy and exhilaration and exuberance and curiosity as to how things could've possibly gone so well—slipped her fingers out from underneath his and moved them further up his arms and over his shoulders and chest to the bottom of his back, wrapping them around him like a lost boy she was loath let go. It was a comforting feeling, just sitting there like this. Who would walk in—they didn't know nor care. 

Izuku hugged her back, holding her head in his hands. In an effort for some much-needed intimacy (which he had gotten more than enough of lately, yet he still wanted more), he rubbed the back of her scalp. 

"I heard you bought your dress," he started. 

"Yeah," she said, and slowly she looked up at him. "But no hints." She winked. "Hope you can handle it. It might be a little too short for you." 

He blushed. 

Not that he would necessarily mind, per se, but that little glint in her eye did raise a few questions. 

"Mina," he mumbled. 

"Yes?" she said, and she tilted her head to the side. 

"How short is short?" 

She suddenly smiled, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet, the tension once-rising in her stomach seemingly starting to dissipate. "Oh, Izu. You don't have to worry. I was only kidding. It's just not one of those long prom dresses you'd expect to see at a school dance." 

Izuku sighed, and seeing her standing there, gearing into a giggling fit, his eyes were suddenly glued to her, the love he'd once felt for her intensified ten times over until he once again realized just what about her had him so head over heels. Everything—from her little blots and blemishes to her beautiful, exuberant personality to her overarching outlook on life, one so incredibly positive it easily outmatched his. And suddenly he knew why he didn't want her wearing that dress—he didn't want anyone else to stare. 

He decided, still red as a cherry tomato ripe and ready for picking, he'd soon have to bring these concerns to her attention, as if he didn't he'd be unsettled, and remain unsettled until the day of the dance. And he couldn't have that happening. 

"Izu, you look… confused," she said. 

"It's just— Wearing such a short dress might get you… looks. From other guys." 

He waved his hands frantically in front of his face, something he'd gotten into the habit of doing as of lately. "N-Not that you can't wear what you want! I'm just worried, is all." 

She reached up for a quick kiss on the cheek. "Aw, Izu, you're jealous. That's cute." 

He smiled, staring startlingly down at the ground. "Maybe a little." 

"I promise you don't have to worry." She pointed to where it went down to, an inch or two below her mid-thigh. "This is as low as it goes." Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. 

That reminded him. He still needed to pick out his own outfit, and soon. 

She squealed, all of a sudden running up to him and jumping into his arms. "Oh, I can't wait to see you that night!" 

"Just one week," he said, wrapping his arms around her. He couldn't believe it. Despite being together for plenty enough time, actually going to the dance with her, this girl he loved, felt like a dream. But a good dream, an exhilarating one, one he wouldn't trade in for the world. 

She drew her head back and gave him a kiss on the lips. It was only a peck, but it got his heart racing, a cop car no longer cruising down the highway but dashing down it a million miles an hour. He was in the middle of a high-speed car chase. 

"Yup! I'm super excited." She buried her head into the crook of his shoulder, the back of his head hot. She put her hand to it, just to be that littlest bit closer to him. It was soothing, soothing like a lullaby, like a fairytale right before bed. 

Speaking of, she really needed to get on that if she wanted to have a good day at school tomorrow. 

And so she poked a finger in the center of his chest, maneuvering it around a little, and said, "Alrighty, well, I think it's time I head up now. So see you in the morning?" 

"Yeah," he said. "See you in the morning." 

She turned toward the door. 

There, standing just a few feet in front of her, was a stupified, stunned Kaminari. 

"Kami, what's up? Using the laundry room?" 

"Uh, yeah." 

He waited for Izuku to leave and then, pulling his clothes out of the wash, started sorting. 

The two of them laughed together as soon as the coast was clear. 

And then, finally, after a luckily-long-yet-somehow-still-productive day, they said their last goodbyes to each other and headed up to bed happily as could be. 

**\- o - o - o - o -**

 **A/N:** _Reviews and comments letting me know what you think would be appreciated, but of course not required. Only if you are obligated to! (Last chapter didn't get any, so I'm kind of hoping for a few on this one.) Hope this chapter was sweet enough for you guys!_


	21. C21 - When It All Proves to Be Unending

**A/N:** _Alright, guys. This is it. The final chapter. All that's left is an epilogue after this (the length undetermined) and that'll be it. I really quickly want to thank everyone for coming along on this ride with me and getting to the end of my book. It's been an incredible year-long journey. This now marks pretty much the end of my first novel, and I do plan on writing more stories after this. It is unknown to me whether it will still be fan fiction or my own original work, although I an leaning more toward the latter._

 _Either way, I just want you to know that I may not be where I am today if it weren't for you guys. Sometimes I'd feel bad about my chapters, and your reviews, whether good or bad, would cheer me up. I'm so sad to say that this is the ending; I wish it could go on longer. But I'd just like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, and enjoy this fluffy last chapter!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
** _  
_

Mina put together the final few pieces of her outfit—a beautiful metal hair clip, one a bit too blinding yet still pleasing to the eye, white pearls and angelicas and bits of silver and gold scattered scarcely throughout, all without wither. She clasped her earrings closed, a pair of showy hoops, and slipped on a few extra bracelets. She only needed a necklace to complete the look, Yaoyorozu throwing it on overhead.

Mina faced the mirror. 

Jirou teased her hair a little, double-checking to make sure none of it would fall out. "There. Done. Girl, you look perfect." 

Mina admired herself. 

For once in her life she could honestly say she felt pretty. 

The same went for the other girls, who had spent the last little while together getting dressed and getting ready. Mina had opted to go last, the only one to do so; she decided it on her own that, gladly, she'd repress her desires to look good and simply enjoy the process. Besides, how could she properly do everyone else's makeup in haphazardly high heels? (Well, not necessarily _high_ high, but a good two or three inches or so, enough to make a difference, to be more of a hindrance than a God-given grace. She couldn't let herself get too tall, as then she'd be taller than Izuku.) 

And even if she did decide, dumbly, to do makeup in such a disorderly state, it'd almost certainly turn out a mess. 

Already tuckered out, she cut her losses, leaving Yaoyorozu, pampered and pumped up, to do her makeup. 

"Just a little bit," she'd said. "I'll make it natural." 

As always, Yaoyorozu didn't disappoint. 

Mina turned around, smiled as soon as it set. "It looks great, Momo. Thanks." 

Yaoyorozu tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, looking cheerfully down at her. "Anytime." 

Mina sat up out of her chair, barely being able to bounce in her high heels. Her room was a mess, and all the girls could see, but she didn't really care. She didn't have the audacity to. 

Besides, she was all the way up in seventh heaven. 

Next to nothing would bring her down. 

And this night certainly didn't make that list. 

As today was the anticipated date of the dance, what they'd been waiting for all week, the last day of school the Saturday afterward, that very next day. It would be a week-long vacation and then they'd be back at it again, this time second years. 

Hopefully that week would consist of a lot of kissing Izuku. 

She'd been doing that a lot lately, yet it was still not enough. Only rarely would he kiss her neck, or do it the way they did that day in the karaoke booth. They'd only kissed a few times this week, mostly because school had gotten in the way, but, as they were still in the early stages, the early stages of love, the unable-to-get-enough-of-each-other stages of love, she savored each and every last one. 

For just starting dating they were probably taking things too far. But it was okay, because it felt right. 

"Mina?" 

She turned toward a floating flowery dress, an invisible specimen, the one in which the voice had come from, coming to the conclusion that it was Hagakure. "Yes?" 

"You okay there? You're kinda spacing out." 

Mina slapped her cheeks. "Oh, yeah, just getting a little too deep in my thoughts, is all." 

And although she didn't say it, Hagakure knew exactly why Mina was so muddled. And likely she wanted to ask, _Over Izuku?_

Yes, over Izuku. 

"Hey, speaking of, anyone—well, besides Mina—have a date? Or are we all going solo?" 

Everyone turned toward Jirou, shook their heads. 

"How about thinking of asking someone to dance?" 

A few nodded, primarily Yaoyorozu, and Jirou mentioned that she wasn't the only one—Earphone Jack was planning on asking someone as well. They all huddled up and had a short, to-the-point, sworn-to-secrecy kind of chat about their crushes, or, in the earlier stages, interests, and as Jirou revealed that the boy she was going to ask was none other than Kaminari, dence, dumb Denki Kaminari, Mina knew right then that this was going to be a good night. With the girls, with Izuku, with Kaminari and Kirishima and Sero and Bakugo—her positive spirit would prove it. And so she smiled and laughed and cracked a few jaunty jokes and held them all close, and all together they huddled, ready to tackle the twilight.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**

Izuku fixed his suit and tightened his tie. He stood in front of the mirror, clearing his throat, holding his breath. _Still too loose,_ he thought, and he tightened it once more, going a little above and beyond and coming creepily close to cutting off his circulation, the silk now having a choke-hold around his neck. 

He pulled it away until he was finally able to get air. 

_Never again,_ he thought. 

He swallowed his pride, but not his nerves. 

The least he could do was dance. Because after all that training that, ironically, _Mina_ had given him, it was the one thing he could confidently say he could do. He may not have been good, but he could do it. 

But he was fretting over other things. Was his suit the right color (stormy gray, to be exact)? Would it at all match hers? They'd dumbly decided not to co-coordinate. 

He heard a knock at his door. Iida. And Todoroki. 

Although they didn't show it, they were excited. Izuku could tell by at least the look on Iida's face, or, startlingly, the lack thereof, fog clouding up his glasses and clogging his vision. Usually that meant that whatever emotion he was feeling, it was strong. And by the light tap of his feet and slight shake of his arms, he seemed to not only be excited, but also a tad bit anxious. 

Todoroki was, well, Todoroki. Stoic. Still. Say, uninterested. Or, at least, from the outside eye, that was what it looked like, the first rationality to come to mind. Todoroki didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, but Izuku could read him like a book. 

All three of them were excited. Ill at ease, but excited. 

And so they ventured off. 

It wasn't until Todoroki first brought it up that Izuku realized he wasn't as sly as he thought. 

"Izuku, you seem awfully nervous." 

It was normal to be nervous. But Izuku was nervous in nuances, unprecedented amounts. 

"W-Well, I mean, there's a lot to think about," he said, and suddenly he started pacing, the upswing of unsettling rattling noises coming from below the elevator floor the last thing on his mind. "Like, what if our outfits don't match? And she's prepared months for me and her to dance—what if I can't live up to her expectations? Will she be disappointed in me?" 

After all, he definitely did not want to let her down. And to think that all that training she had done for him to dance with Uraraka would now work out in her favor. Would it all be a waste? 

Iida looked at Izuku, terrified to give advice. Love wasn't his scene. "Izuku, you two are properly dating, correct?" 

Izuku nodded. 

"And, seeing as you two are clearly quite fond of each other, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she probably won't care." 

Izuku thanked Iida, and then, rallied up by a tiny tap on his shoulder, turned toward Todoroki. "She seems to be very much in love with you. With a love like that, there is likely little room in her heart for pettiness." 

Todoroki's words of wisdom—you didn't get to hear them every day. 

But for Izuku, they were a beautiful blessing. 

Head no longer spinning, face no longer flushed, Izuku let go of his inhibition. He bore the brightest smile. 

There was no anxiety. No nervousness. Just excitement. Excitement to see her. Excitement to spin and sashay and sway from side to side—to make this not only their last, but their best night at U.A. yet. 

And that excitement didn't die down when he actually did see her, smiling and laughing and making the most out of herself as she huddled up with all of the rest of the girls, completely unaware and unenlightened of their approach. She took his breath away. That dress—from the color to the literal laces to the style—it fit her so well. And from afar, he was pretty sure he saw something glistening in her hair, sparkling, sticking out like a sore thumb. What were they, flowers? Whatever they were they were beautiful. 

With the boys eager to go up and greet, the two groups jumbled together as one. They mixed immediately, the girls together with the boys and the boys together with the girls. Mina and Izuku met up. 

"I thought… Maybe my outfit was too flashy, but it looks like everyone went all out, huh?" Izuku said, taking her hand. 

"Yeah," she sighed. Today, he looked like a whole different person. This was nothing compared to their first date. And luckily, to an extent, their outfits managed to match. She couldn't stop staring. With a smile, she said, "You look great." 

"You too, Mina. You're beautiful." 

And, after cracking a few jokes and sharing their staple stories of getting ready, it was time for pictures. 

She took some with Jirou first. And then Hagakure. And then Yaoyorozu and Asui and most importantly Uraraka. She took some with the Bakusquad as well—she, being the only girl, was the star of the shot. 

And when Izuku was up, she leaned into him a little, palm placed on the center of his chest. If they had taken this picture any earlier in the week, she was sure they'd look stiff, but after being together for a while and getting used to each other, that was no longer the case. Falling into his arms was just practice. 

And for their last shot, she turned her head to the side and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

By this time, there was no point in hiding it. Everyone knew. 

Mina, after setting her feet back down on the ground and regaining her balance, took a little look at Uraraka, who, luckily for her, had shot her a could-care-less kind of smile, one not full of hatred, one not full of lies. To Mina, it seemed okay, like she had given her the okay. 

They sure were living in luxury. Despite the walk from the dorms to the school gym being a mere five minutes, they'd still bought buses, albeit cheap ones, but they were buses. What a shame it would be if someone had tripped and fell and ruined their shoes or shirt or dress. 

The gym was decorated from stem to stern with stars. The ceiling especially, lights so bright they were blinding, giving it the look of a solar system, a supernova, a constellation of celestial bodies into later a larger galaxy, the Milky Way or maybe Andromeda. It was too hard to tell. 

Mina could no longer tear her eyes away, and it wasn't until Izuku brought her back down to Earth that she once again realized what world she was living in—reality. This superficial, seemingly synthetic sky may have been beautiful, but it wasn't real. 

It did bring back memories, though. Memories of nights on the beach, under spring trees. Memories of Izuku, those days she was first falling in love. 

And now, somehow, she had ended up here—holding him close on the dance floor, divvying it up to the discotheque and having the time of their lives, and lately, seemingly, it'd become a lot less surreal. Hanging out with him after school, both loathing Aizawa's overload of homework (or at least she was—she wasn't so sure about him), getting to know one another's friends, eating dinner together downstairs, leaving late and going on moonlit walks—it all felt so natural, so real, not only to her but also to him. The one thing she wanted was to make sure she still spent time with her friends. 

And she was achieving just that. And by the looks of it, so was he. 

A beautiful balance between love and life. 

She, her mind finally back on track, was beginning to slow, slur, slip up, grow a tinge too tired. They'd been dancing for only 30 minutes, and the dance would go on for another two and a half hours, but, at least, when it came to partying hard, she couldn't keep her stamina up for too long. 

She and Izuku hopped off the dance floor and went over to grab a drink. "Man," she said, "I'm beat." 

Izuku, no longer with her and now over by his friends, was nowhere to be found. Instead it was Jirou, paper cup in hand, who greeted her, filling it up with punch. "And I can't feel my feet." 

Mina looked over at her, the rest of the band of girls quickly approaching behind, like a little flock of doves, ducks crossing the street. Hagakure, woefully, pretended to feel faint, only evident by her glove reaching up to her forehead in an attempt to make things ten times more melodramatic than needed be. "Oh, it must be so hard to actually have a date!" 

Mina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You could land a date easily if you wanted to. All of you could." 

And, as if right on queue, there was all of a sudden a boy, one cute, one nervously trying to get their attention. "Um, e-excuse me? Uraraka?" 

Uraraka turned. 

Now, Uraraka would be lying if she said she hadn't seen this boy. He looked familiar, a friend of Hatsume's, she thought, studying in the Department of Support. There wasn't any obvious evidence of a Quirk. 

"Hm?" she said, holding the hem of her dress. Something about this encounter made her anxious, but a good kind of anxious, a giddy kind. 

"I know this might be out of the blue, a-and you can say no, but—and I've been thinking about this for a while—would you… maybe want to dance with me?" 

He suddenly shook his head side to side, looked surprised. "A-And I'm sorry! I never told you my name—" 

Uraraka interrupted him. "No, it's okay. Ueda, right? Hatsume's friend." 

"Oh, okay." He smiled, sighed. "You remember me. So—" 

"Sure! I'll dance with you." 

The girls had been watching from afar, staring mouths agape in awe. As Uraraka unreluctantly took his hand and walked off, she turned back around and smiled at them, Mina giving her a celebratory thumbs-up. She was with her at heart. 

A little while later they were back with the DJ, the entirety of Class 1-A on the dance floor at the exact same time, moving to the beat of the disco. Each knowing the precise mannerisms of most songs, their choreography was near perfect despite having never even practiced. It put a smile on Mina's face, and as she turned toward Izuku, who was delightfully dancing next to her, she could see it put a smile on his as well. 

Hagakure, to her left, tapped her shoulder, startling her out of her trance. "Hey," she said, "I never said I'm sorry for what happened during Truth or Dare." 

They kept on dancing. "Oh, no, Toru, it's okay. Everything worked out in the end." She had to raise her voice a few notes higher over the music. 

"But, I mean, I shouldn't have done what I did." 

Mina turned toward her, smile more moving than magic. And although she couldn't see it, it lightened Hagakure up inside. "Hey, I'm the one who kissed him. I should've just gone the easy way out—with Kiri. At least now you know he isn't the one I like. So, I guess, next time, if there's anything to learn, just don't be so quick to judge." 

And, Hagakure pleasantly surprised at how well that'd fared, nodded her head, facing frontward, grooving to the beat of the music. She took Mina's advice, and that last little bit of distance was shattered. 

Class 1-A kept dancing with one another for a while, giggling and getting down and rowdy and having the time of their lives. There was a certain singularity in the way they moved—they were all of a sudden one, no dilemma, no drama about to stop them, nor would it hinder their night. 

It was about half an hour later, with only an hour and a half left in the dance, when Present Mic stood up onstage. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen! I think it's about time, for all you couples out there, we start playing some slow songs!" 

There was a crowd of cheers, from the stereotypical oohs and aahs to boos bouncing blatantly off the walls. Mina immediately ran toward Izuku. This was the part of the night she was waiting for. 

"Guess those dance lessons are finally coming in handy, huh?" 

He nodded, took her in his arms. One hand flew up by his face and the other down by her waist. "Yup. I just never expected it to be with you." 

They slowly inched from the edge of the dance floor to the middle, a cluster of couples no longer nearby. It was nice to be alone. 

Izuku didn't take his eyes off of her throughout the whole first song. And then the next. And the next. She was honestly quite surprised, watching him move like that, a certain nervousness in the way he stepped yet still unapologetically bold, and as she looked up into his eyes, she knew she'd made the right choice—she'd made the right choice by being with him, by being with this boy—and not an ounce of her would ever regret it. 

He eventually got her in a compromising position, her back against his chest as she quite purposely looked up into his eyes. She gave him this loving look, letting her lashes flutter up like the wings of a butterfly as she did so. This was no accident. 

She would kiss him, but this _was_ the school gym. 

"You're getting kinda cocky tonight, huh?" 

That caught him off guard. All of a sudden he was knocked right out of his groove. "Maybe a little," he said, and suddenly he started stuttering, back to his old, usual, shy self. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Now that he mentioned it, it was getting kind of long. "But then again, after all that you taught me, whose fault is that?" 

She raised her head and her hand. "Alright, I guess I give in. You got me." 

He spun her back around, leaving each of their arms out extended for just a brief moment, only linked by the loose grasp they had held on each other before pulling her back in close. She was convinced that with a simple surrender, she had once again turned him courageous. 

And with the brightest blush on both of their faces, they continued to dance, dance until they could no longer keep track of time, comprehend what was going on around them or anything else in the outside world. For what felt like forever, yet an instant at the same time, it was just him and her, bodies intertwined as they burned it up on the dance floor, both each other's scapegoat, each other's getaway. If they needed a moment off, even a few minutes, away from the chaotic catastrophe they called life, they ran straight to each other before anyone else. He was whom she found to be her "special someone." 

It was about half an hour before the end of the dance when Mina, allegedly out of the blue, got an idea. She tapped his shoulder, grabbed hold of his attention. "Hey, Izuku," she said. "Let's get away." 

And whatever idea she had, he knew for sure it was going to be a bad one. But, blind as a bat, he would inevitably follow her lead. "Um, sure? But how, and where?" 

She began leading him out of the crowd, weaving through waves of people and a glistening sea of stars. Asteroids hung high overhead, planets left in their wake. But those didn't deter her. Nothing would. 

She took him by the hand out into the vacant hallway and through U.A.'s front doors. Cold, the bitter breeze biting her soft skin, Izuku, without even a beat of evanescent delay, took off his suit and wrapped it around her. "Thank you," she said, craning her neck back, smiling. Now that they were away, he was so happy to finally be able to hug her. 

"Of course." 

"There's… a reason I wanted to take you out here, y'know." She talked into his arms, pulling him closer. He could feel her breath against his skin, his nerves tingling from the sweet sensation. He honestly found it quite arousing. 

He remained with his head on her shoulder, unwilling to open his eyes. "Yeah? What's that?" 

"I wanna take a walk." 

Izuku pulled away. "A walk?" 

"Yeah. Y'know, just one around U.A." 

"Any special spots in mind?" 

Mine looked lost in thought. "Oh!" she shrieked. "There is one place I wanna go." She took his hand. "If that's fine with you, that is." 

"I mean, sure. Why not?" 

And so, in sync, they walked out of the affluence of academic buildings and back toward the U.A. dorms. The usual walk to and from class in the morning and afternoon was typically about five, ten minutes, but today, she stopped short, only making it about two and a half. She led them into the forest. 

On the side of the streets of U.A.'s campus, there had always been an abundance of trees. Many had not found the time to explore, too busy training and schooling and all, to take a trip into the unknown, adventure around and get to know the land they were living in, but Mina had. She had taken time out of her day to do so. 

Sometimes that constituted sneaking out past curfew. 

Aizawa was yet to catch her, and it gave her an adrenaline rush. Studying at the illustrious school of U.A., she spent most of her time stressed out, and it was her only means of escape. So why the hell not? 

"M-Mina, my shoes—" 

"It's okay. The leaves don't get deep, and the ground doesn't get damp." 

"O-Okay, if you say so, but where are we going?" 

"You'll see." 

By now she was way far in front, leading the way, him lagging behind, holding on for dear life. She, reluctantly, forced herself to slow down so he could catch up. She may have been overexcited, but she wasn't inconsiderate. 

Much to Izuku's relief, she came to a halting stop, as they must have finally arrived. 

It took him a minute to finally figure out what he was looking at. A creek. Slowly, it slivered, sliced into smaller streams, until bridging back together into this beautifully bright pond, sparkling and steaming and fizzing like a lively little hot spring. It was as if it was set under an active volcano, one which could erupt at any minute. 

A geyser bursted out a belt of hot water. 

"Um, Mina, are you sure this is safe?" Izuku asked. 

"Nope." 

He went pale, a ghostly shade of white. She bent down, careful to keep her dress from touching the ground, and waved her hand against the water, leaving little lasting ripples that extended outward to the other side of the pond. "Sorry. We don't have to stay, if you don't want," she started. "I've always just thought this spot was very beautiful ever since I found it at the beginning of the year. I told myself when I found the right guy, I would bring him here." 

And although she'd turned away and was incredibly unwilling to turn back, from the silence she could tell he was blushing. A small smile cracked from the corners of her lips. 

"No, it's okay." He bent down by her side, rolling up his sleeves, waving his own hand in the deep blue sea. "I'm glad I'm that guy." He draped his head over her shoulder, staring out across the bay. The little red tint to his cheeks sent her heart soaring. 

"Of course." She picked at the grass, and in a moment of peace, sweet serenity, she looked up, admiration in her eyes as she took in the beautiful night sky, littered with stars and clouds and a wondrously white moon, unbothered by bustling city lights and planes and contaminated carbon-filled air. It was incredible, seeing the sky from the outer side of the city, lights no longer in the way. 

It was as if she were stricken by inspiration. 

Inspiration to make the most out of this moment. 

And so, trees whistling and water crystal clear from one end of the bank to the other, she leaned in and kissed him. 

It was an ambitious decision, but one she wouldn't regret. Her lips were just a little bit chapped, the cold the cause, but she didn't mind. And judging by his unhesitant haste, neither did he. Besides, he, being a boy, had given in to the cold as well, cheeks no longer supple and soft but breezily bitter under her touch. 

After a bit of bottom lip biting and slowing things down, Izuku pulled away. They touched the tips of their noses, resting their foreheads comfortably against each other, giving each a subtle smile. 

He ran his hands through her hair. He hit something hard, taking a second to realize it was the metal hair clip. "That clip… It's really pretty. You should wear it more often. I-If you want, I mean." 

"If I ever get the chance to dress up like this again I will." 

_One day when I marry you,_ he wanted to say. And although she would most likely not hesitate to agree, he knew in his heart that that would be taking things too far too fast. They were immature, young, no way of knowing where this love was going or where the hell the future was planning on taking them. It was a real love, but a puppy one nonetheless. But, he would admit, marrying her was something he'd like to do one day, something he'd like to dream. 

He opted for this instead: "Well, I mean, you don't _have_ to dress up to wear that clip." 

She laughed. "Oh, Izu, trying to pretend you know fashion. I'd bet money on you not knowing the difference between a romper and a jumpsuit." 

He had to be honest. She'd caught him up on that one. 

They heard voices coming out from the clearing—the dance had come to an end. Early, they must have assumed, as students were beginning to walk out. Or, as there weren't many, maybe they were just leaving a little ahead of time. 

"We should probably go," Izuku opted. 

"Aw, now? _C'mon._ So there's people. So what? It's not like they can see us." 

"Uh, Mina, from here they probably can—" 

And so, to shut him up, she kissed him, her bones embedded with not a lick of hesitation. It was obvious, ostentatious, in order to prove her point—none of the boys or girls or anything in between (Quirks could do some funky stuff) out there could see them, nor did they care. And when they kept on walking, past the clearing, completely unaware of what was going on behind the bush just forty feet further into the forest—a whole lot of PDA, to say the least—Mina didn't have to say any more. 

She rested her hand on his chin. "See?" she said when she pulled away. But Izuku wasn't done yet. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in, hands on the side of her neck. Eyes wide with surprise and a hint of exhausted exhilaration, it took her a moment to process Izuku's unexpected display of alacrity, even longer for her to kiss back. She slyly snaked her hands over the suit on his shoulders and up past the nape of his neck, running them wildly through his untamed mane. His head of hair was a poofy one, one that vaguely resembled hers. 

They pushed up against each other, almost borrowing each other's strength to stand up. Up overhead stood cherry blossom trees, some of the first few to bloom. She spun him around and pinned him up against one of the nearby tree trunks, a branch hanging not too many feet over their heads. 

And with the pink leaves there, falling on each of their shoulders, she liked to imagine it was mistletoe. 

And so they made out under that tree for minutes. 

Of course, still being new to this and all, they went not much farther than kissing. She peppered his neck with pecks, unwilling to suckle the skin in her best attempt not to leave a mark, but still playful nonetheless. It wasn't until, as they intertwined their tongues, he tentatively rubbed around a little on the top of her head, feeling her horns as a means of exploration, them responding by twitching wildly in the palm of his hand, that their kiss would come to a halt. 

She clamped down on the tip of his tongue, suddenly so squeamish. 

"Hey," she said, bringing her hands to her horns. They were still twitching, and she needed to calm them down. "It's sensitive there." 

Instinctively, he pulled away, a little downhearted to have done so. Something about seeing her in such a susceptible state got his heart racing, running circles around his chest. "M-Mina, I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't know. I'll be more careful next time." 

"No, it's okay… It just took me by surprise, is all. Maybe you could… touch them more next time?" 

And there came her cougar, her more assertive side. 

His face flushed. 

They heard footsteps once again coming from the clearing, this time many more than there were before, low voices and little laughs and giggles that could only mean one thing—the end of the night, and in turn, the end of their first-year dance. 

Izuku was in fact more happy than he was sad. With this wonderful new girl in his life, his second year would bring better beginnings. 

But instead of wallowing in his thoughts, he decided it'd be best if he were talking. "We should probably go." Finally, still with this big, bright red blush on his face, he watched intuitively as her hands fell from her horns atop her head, back by her side and no longer in their protective stance, and she was able to look him in the eye. 

She smiled. "Before someone sees us and calls the cops." 

Now that she mentioned it, they did look pretty peculiar. To the sensible eye they'd seem like suspicious figures. 

She fixed herself up and unmatted her hair and wiped the lipstick off of his face and the corners of his lips. Carefully, quietly, sneakily, discreetly, they made their way out of the brush and through the clearing and back onto the main road, following the rest of the student crowd on their memorable march back toward the U.A. dorms. Oh, how she felt so devious. 

"Midoriya! Ashido! Wait up!" 

They looked back over their shoulders at the sight of the sound of the noise. There, barreling toward them, came Kirishima, Kaminari, Iida and Uraraka and another half of Class 1-A trailing behind them in their wake. They looked at each other, stopped. 

Kirishima was the first to catch up, slowing down, and as he stopped standing his guard, he lackadaisically rested his rimy hands on his knees. "You guys wanna," he huffed, "walk back to the dorms together?" 

After all, they would be packing up their things and leaving. Not tonight, but tomorrow. In celebration of a new year, they'd be moving into new dorms, their placement on the other side of campus. It was only customary. "Sure," she said. 

And so they all formed a few lines, a fierce five in the front, a more fugitive five in the back. Next to Mina stood Uraraka. She would later have to inquire about how things went with her date. Kirishima separated the easily-set-off Bakugou from Izuku, and behind them were a number of other students from Class 1-A, walking, standing to the side of the sidewalk to let other potential people pass by. Mina looked to her left, not at all surprised to see Kirishima advancing toward Bakugo's hand and him popping off explosions and pulling away. She smiled. 

Mina, Izuku by her side, grabbed hold of his hand. She sauntered and swayed and curled his fingers tightly toward hers, palms producing just a little bit of accidental acid. There was a lot of laughing, animosity, exhilaration and elation, as in less than one week, Class 1-A would become Class 2-A, and all would be well with the world. 

Well, for the most part. They had their ups and downs. 

And, as if moving into different dorms wasn't enough, he'd practically read her mind, as he tilted his head up and looked at her sideways and said, "You ready?" 

Ready for what? To finally, even if it wasn't for long, head home? To step it up a notch, carry the weight of the burden of becoming second years? To dive head first into their relationship? 

There was a lot she could've prepared for. 

_No,_ she thought. That wasn't what he meant. He meant the future. Just the future in general. 

Because it was almost as unpredictable as their past. 

"'Course," she said back, and as they kept on walking, she twisted him around, showing off a little in front of their friends as this was their one and only night to do so, dragging him a few feet forward and pulling him along with her. He let out a little squeal, and she—a slight skip in her step. 

They eventually hopped back in line. She smiled, and he smiled too, and she held onto his hand like she'd never let go. 

And with a grip like that, there was one thing he could say for certain—she definitely wasn't planning on it. 

And, as the night sky shined so bright, he vowed that neither was he.

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
**

 **A/N:** _Alright, and up next is the epilogue. This coronacation thing has my schedule all messed up. It is currently 6:00 a.m. and I haven't slept yet and am instead posting this chapter. Anyway, I hope that was a fulfilling ending, and votes and comments / reviews would of course be greatly appreciated! Thank you all again!_


	22. - Epilogue END -

**A/N:** _Wow. Okay, I don't really know what to say. There's just so much to unpack here. First off, thank you. Thank you all for your support and your reviews and your favorites and follows—I wouldn't be quite as motivated as I an today if it weren't for those. It's really sad to say that this is the end of the line. This won't be my last MHA fanfiction, though! I plan to write another one, albeit a much shorter one, soon! More about that in the A/N after this chapter._

 _This is my first real completion of a novel. After this and another short little fanfic, I am planning to maybe branch out into my own original work, although I am not sure yet. I have a couple ideas floating around in my head. But if it weren't for this fanfiction and your guys' support, I probably wouldn't be able to even say that, so really just thank you._

 _As for this last chapter, it's really its own short little story in and of itself. It's around 7,000 words and is pretty much purely fluff. I'm actually really happy with the way it turned out._

 _So really, just thank you all. I wouldn't be where I am today without you. As always, any final comments and reviews would of course be appreciated. I read every one. I hope you are all staying safe during the coronavirus pandemic!_

 **\- o - o - o - o -**

Mina awoke cold. Despite the sound of the heater crackling quietly on the opposite side of the room, she was still cold, and it was then that she realized she only had the shivers over something psychological. She had a feeling she knew why, like she always did, as this was nothing new to her. It only took one look over her shoulder at the other side of the bed to confirm it.

Yup. Izuku was gone.

And on Valentine's Day, no less.

It wasn't like she could be surprised. This happened often. Hero work and all, being called in in the early hours of the morning before the moon could even fall curtain on Musutafu was a common occurrence.

And he was the Number One Hero. It happened a lot for her, but even more so for him. She only ranked in the top 20.

But still, that didn't stop her from being blue.

He had left her naked there, freezing under the covers, nothing but a brief goodbye note and a bouquet of flourishing flowers, lotuses and lilacs and a bundle of other beautiful blossoms thrown into the mix, to keep her company. It was sweet, she would admit, but depressing nonetheless.

She hated having sex with him the night before and waking up with him gone.

Tired and groggy, she sat up, read the note. Today was one of those days where work would be cut short, as she had already been told so antecedently by her agency. They delivered news in no time.

She read it over a few times until it finally processed in her mind, and it may have been short, but it was tantalizingly tender.

 **Mina,**

 **I'm so sorry about the early leave. I got called into work before sunrise. I'll let you know how it goes. Or, better yet, you can just watch on TV. But I'm betting you'll be at work.**

 **Last night was great. I guess it was my early Valentine's Day gift. Today, if I get back on time, let's go out. Let's go out on a date, like old times. And if I can't, we can just cuddle up and have a movie night. At least let me make this night special.**

 **I love you, Mina, more than words can describe.**

 **Stay safe out there!**

 **Izuku.**

She swooned. Still, after all this time, he had this idiotic effect on her. It'd been almost eight years. Eight years since they'd started dating. They'd recently turned 24.

So, and once again she had to wonder, where was the proposal?

She'd been waiting for so long. Sometimes she wondered if maybe he'd fallen out of love with her, as they weren't young, dumb kids anymore, and they weren't right smack dab in the middle of a premature puppy love. Had time taken its toll?

 _No,_ she thought. Izuku knew when to be honest about his feelings. If he truly felt that way, he would've broken up with her a long time ago.

Or at least she hoped.

She grunted, sighed, rested her head in her hand on her pillow. Her alarm clock rang, but she put it on silent. She needed to get ready. She had work soon.

But, her brain barbaric, running around in circles endlessly over and over again with the exact same thoughts, she had trouble dragging herself out of bed.

Somehow, after all this time, Mina had managed spectacularly not to fall out of love with him. In her mind, at least, it meant he was the one, the one she wanted to marry. Although, she already knew that, and she had since long ago.

She likely had her Hero work to thank. Not seeing each other so often meant they didn't have time to get sick of each other, bicker, and in turn, break up. She could also partially thank her, and his, undying love.

Besides, they only had sex two nights a week. At most. Half the time their sleep schedules were all wack, and they'd go to bed and wake up at completely different times. Last night was an anomaly, an outlier, something she'd never forget.

Could tonight be the same?

She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, tonight would be the night he proposed.

And if he didn't, it was presumably her call to take matters into her own hands.

It wasn't traditional for the girl to be the one to propose, but, honestly, who really cared about tradition, anyway? As long as she got to marry him.

She decided, as she rolled out of bed and changed out of her pajamas into some more decent clothes, that she would phone Jirou about it, maybe get some new insight.

Mina was in the midst of brushing her teeth when she rang her up. A gruff voice came in from the other end, one still strained by sleep. "Hello?"

"Oh, Kyouka. I'm so sorry to be calling you at"—she checked the time—"7:30 in the morning, but I really need some advice!"

"Go for it. You know I've always got your back."

Despite it being years, Jirou and her had managed to stay in touch. And not only was it Jirou, but all of the rest of the girls in Class 3-A as well. It was usually conventional for most to meet their closest friends in college, but since they didn't have that, they met them in high school.

So, how _was_ Jirou doing after all these years? Mina was able to answer that question, as they'd managed to stay so tightly knit, and it was something similar to a simple "alright." Kaminari and her had been dating for the last little while, as things didn't exactly work out at U.A., and it wasn't until much longer later, after they'd grown up and matured, that they truly found each other and fell in love.

As they say—right person, wrong time. Without any indication of doubt, Mina was proud to say that in her case she could easily alter her wording around a bit to fit her own fantastical reality—right person, right time. Things weren't perfect, as nothing ever would be, but, despite the rocky road they'd ridden, they certainly were good enough.

"Mina, you gonna tell me, or…"

"O-Oh!" she said. "Yeah. Sorry. You know me, always getting lost in my thoughts." She took a pause, huffed, held her hesitation in her hand and then squeezed it tight until it burst and disappeared into thin air. Finally, this being on her mind for months now, she started rambling. "It's just— Izuku. He hasn't really… asked me to marry him yet. And, like, we're 24, Kyouka! I know that's early for most people, but we've been together for eight years! We've talked about it before, and I'm sure he wants to, but _when_? I can't just keep sitting around forever! Like, does he not love me?"

"Mina. Tonight's Valentine's Day. Just… Before you get upset, give him that, okay? He loves you, girl. You don't need me to tell you that. He loves you to pieces. You two haven't lasted this long for no reason. Hell, I'd bet money on it that he's already asked your parents for your hand in marriage."

"He better have. My dad would go crazy if he didn't."

Besides, Izuku was a respectable guy. Almost too respectable, always apologizing and going above and beyond about his manners, even profusely so, a bit over the top. And now Mina was thinking about it, him sitting down with her mother and father and asking so politely and sweetly and so very Izuku-like for permission to propose. And even after all these years, it still got her heart racing.

"Yeah," she smiled. Her eyes glistened beautifully bright yellow in the sunlit window. "I guess I'll just… give him tonight. And if he doesn't do it then, we'll sit down and have a talk."

"Oh, thank God, Mina. You're finally thinking rationally. I mean, look at Bakugou and Kirishima. And Denki and I, for God's sake! None of us have proposed yet. Speaking of, how are those two doing? Bakugou and Kirishima, I mean."

Mina ran a hand through her hair, the length just a little bit longer than it was back at U.A. Kirishima was doing well. He'd risen to fame, a few slots away from the top five, and there wasn't any individual who didn't know the name the Unbreakable Hero Red Riot. Now, Bakugou had even gone beyond that. He sat at two, dead set on Izuku's tail. Todoroki and him had gone back and forth between the spot for years.

As for Kirishima and Bakugou, they were still ever so happily in love. They owned their own apartment, as did Izuku and Mina, and Bakugou's anger had toned down a bit since his earlier days. He even had a somewhat peaceful relationship with Izuku. Well, as peaceful as things could get while fighting over the Number One spot.

"Good," she said. "Great, actually. Eijirou's just as feisty as usual, and Bakugou's just as belligerent."

"Great! Well, Denki and I are doing well, aren't we, Denki?"

Kaminari's voice came in through the background, now much louder than Jirou's. "Yup! Long time no see, Ashido!"

"Hey, Kaminari. That Class 3-A reunion can't come any faster, huh?"

"Yup."

His voice fizzled out as a cutesy kind of quarrel erupted between the two. Jirou's voice was once again more prominent. "Alright, so, anyway, now that Dunce Face is out of the picture—"

"Hey! I heard that!"

Mina could just imagine Jirou rolling her eyes. "The girls of Class 3-A really need to hang out sometime soon. We should text in the groupchat."

Mina and her worked out a plan for that until eventually they had it all set.

"Okay! Done!" Mina shouted, and all of a sudden she was in a much better mood, lively and energetic and bubbly, almost barbarically so. She was probably getting her hopes up too high, but she had a good feeling about tonight.

"Hey, Mina? I wish you the best of luck on your date."

"Thanks, Kyouka. You too. Talk to you later."

"Yup. Talk to you later." She laughed. "And probably see you soon."

Jirou hung up the phone. Mina threw herself back on Izuku's side of the bed and suffocated her head in his pillow, hugging it so hard the feathers fell out. Suffice to say she was swooning, and she felt like a lovesick little girl again. Although, to be perfectly honest, she would be willing to admit that she didn't particularly mind.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**  
Mina got off work at 2:00 p.m.

Today was one of those days, those incredibly quiet days when a majority of the Villains she fought were really only minor. Most of them were heartbroken and lonely. It was really quite sad.

Except, who in their right mind took out their forlorn feelings on a bunch of innocent townspeople? Her ideologies did a full 360.

Nevertheless, she, her mind still running rampant over the perceived personalities of the Villains she'd put behind bars, grabbed a bag of chips, the TV remote, and hunkered down on the couch. She turned on the TV.

Ah, yes. Until Izuku got home, today would be a docile day.

Except, immediately, as soon as the static turned to pixels turned to pictures, there he was, smiling sportively under the eyes of news reporters on her television screen. "Save the world with a smile," he'd said. His catchphrase.

Or, maybe more like All Might's. To laud the legacy of the Symbol of Peace.

He went off into battle.

Her heart hammered wildly in and out of her chest.

This always got her nervous. It was a given from the get-go, the moment they decided to become Heroes, that in the duty of saving people they would see their loved ones get hurt. They would see them wounded, scared, helpless, lying lifelessly on the ground, potentially even reaching their demise. She had seen that scene plenty of times.

She held her breath.

Luckily, the fight ended with the Villain incarcerated with ease. With the help of Kirishima and a slightly extra airheaded Uraraka, the criminal was quickly deemed unconscious and taken into the hands of the police. She sighed.

Speaking of Uraraka, Mina hadn't really talked to her in a while. Well, if a few days counted as a while—they _were_ best friends, after all, so talking every day was completely conventional. Not seeing her for so long left her at least a little bit lonely.

Uraraka was doing well. She'd had a few boyfriends over the years, but currently she was single, and more than happy to be, to be honest. Boys had never really suited her style.

Uraraka would always cheer her on when Mina merely mentioned the possibility of getting married. It was sweet of her. She still had that same bubbly, go-get-'em personality she'd had back at U.A., and was still considered an airhead. It was honestly kind of cute.

That was enough of her old friends. She needed to get back to the TV to make sure Izuku was okay.

Luckily, he gave the reporters a sincere, sweet smile, saving the city of Musutafu all the while, and through the television screen his face felt strangely familiar, almost like he was smiling at her.

She knew he wasn't, but she couldn't help but swoon. He seemed so sweet when working yet so sexy at the same time.

She looked down at her phone, buzzing and beeping at an incoming message. Izuku had texted her, letting her know he would get off of work early today. She began getting herself ready.

 **\- o - o - o -  
**  
Izuku was in the middle of watching his most recent Villain capture be turned over to the hands of the police when, from his back pocket, his phone rang.

He pulled it out, replicas of All Might's two tufts of hair and wings on the sides of his costume getting caught on the cloth of his clothes. Yeah, that never changed. Izuku was still a fanboy at heart.

It was his agency. Although for the most part he was on his own and worked primarily independently, he still got most of his calls from them for the specifics of what to look for, what Villains he'd be fighting, and where he'd find them.

"Deku," a deep male voice started. To any other it'd seem intimidating, but to Izuku it was anything but. "You're done for the day."

This was Fujiwara, one of Izuku's allies. He was a partner in crime, in a way, just without the fighting. "Already?" Izuku shrieked. "But it's only 6:00 p.m."

"I know," Fujiwara continued, his voice getting gruffer. "But there are plenty of Heroes who have decided to take the night shift, and, with today being Valentine's Day, there are of course not many Villains around. If we need you again, we'll call you. Besides, I know in regards to Pinky you have big plans for tonight."

Izuku blushed. He took a second, and then said, "I— Yes. Thank you, Fujiwara."

"Anytime. It's a man's duty to help another guy out."

Izuku laughed. "Yup."

And with that, Fujiwara ended the call.

Izuku took a deep breath in. Then, letting that same little lasting breath out, he ran full speed back to his agency. He changed into regular civilian clothes, and knowing that today, of all days, he most definitely could not get caught, he covered himself up with a tall top hat and a pair of somber sunglasses.

There. Now, hopefully, no adoring fans would get in his way. He headed back home.

Before Izuku opened his door, he tucked a small, velvet, elegant-looking black box he was planning on saving for later deep inside his back pocket. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

She had his arms around him as soon as he walked in the doorway.

"Oh, you're safe!" she squealed. "I was so worried about you!"

He hugged her back. "Of course I'm safe."

She spun him around and around and around until she got sick of spinning, dizzy and weak in the knees. "I know," she said, looking down. "I just get worried, with you being the Number One Hero and all. It's a new title for you."

"Almost a year in the making." Overenthusiastically, he threw his hands in the air, smiled, that super signature sprightly look in his eyes, and winked down at her. Then, all of a sudden he got serious. "Mina… I worry about you too, you know. It's dangerous out there."

Her face flushed. After lifting her chin a little (okay, a lot), she was able to bury her head into the crook of his shoulder. He'd gotten taller since U.A., no longer 5'7" but now nearly 5'11." She still stood a measly 5'3."

"With all these Villains, it can be." She pulled away. "But we're safe now. And it's Valentine's Day." She winked. "And you promised me a date."

But, no matter how much Mina denied it, he was right. Hero life was unpredictable, treacherous, oftentimes the exact definition of dangerous. Their lives were on the line twenty-four seven.

And with Izuku's One For All, a majority of the past successors died young.

 _No._ Mina shook her head. _Don't think that way._ Izuku could be an exception. And oftentimes, for those one-of-a-kind, top-of-the-line Heroes, early meant only a few years, a few years off from when they would've originally died, so she should've held her head up higher.

 _Yeah, Mina! That's the spirit! Save him from whatever troubles come his way!_

Besides, over the course of the past few years, he had spent a considerable amount of time mastering the six inherited Quirks that came along with this borrowed power and diligently training his body to accommodate them. He was even specially selected by All Might, the former Number One Hero himself. Many of the other past successors didn't get that God-given grace and were, by default, not ready to take on the Quirk.

"Musutafu?" he asked.

She let her mind down slowly. She needed to get her head on straight. "Musutafu it is."

That would be a throwback—a sentimental reminder of their first date.

Izuku excused himself to go get changed—really get changed this time, not into civilian clothes but more fashionable ones, going especially out of his way to make sure he didn't look like too much of a big deal. He didn't want her getting any ideas.

With that said, suit slacks and sleek jacket in hand, he went for the sharp, sophisticated look of a done-down street-style savant. As Mina had told him, it weirdly worked well with him, something she'd have liked to see from him more often.

He showered and threw on his clothes and looked himself over in the mirror, grabbing his gift bag off of the counter and nervously taking a breath. Out of his work-pants pocket came the box and into his suit slacks it went.

It wasn't until he walked out of the room that he really got a good look at his girlfriend. Her outfit was cute, casual, as even though it was Valentine's Day, they didn't feel the need to go out of their way to get dressed up, as even though they loved each other, this was their eighth year together. They still felt the need to look good, but never anymore did they willingly go above and beyond. That didn't mean that in this attire he didn't find her beautiful. In fact, he found her fabulous. No flashy high heels or prim and proper dresses were necessary.

But, still, she wore that hair pin.

That pin—the one that had held her hair up on the night of the dance, the one he remembered so clearly, angelicas and bits of silver and gold scattered scarcely throughout. She wore it all the time now. It was beat-up and battered, but her favorite.

Tonight was the optimal time to use it.

Although he'd keep that quiet.

They held hands as they headed hastily out of the apartment complex. To the public, the loving relationship between Pinky and Deku was no secret, but, as they weren't in Hero costumes, luckily it was, in a way, illegal for fans to approach them. The most they could do was ask for an autograph.

This was mostly for privacy reasons. Heroes had lives too, you know.

"What're you feeling tonight, Izu? Dinner date? Movies? I'd be _totally_ down to get drunk if we didn't have work in the morning."

Izuku began muttering to himself. In truth, he'd already laid out a plan. He knew exactly how he wanted this night to go, and not once would he allow himself to fuck any of it up. "We start with a fancy dinner, and then hit the boulevard, and then mini-golf, and then the park, and then the boats, and then… that..."

"Izuku, you're mumbling again."

He sat up prickly stiff, her voice sending shivers down his spine. "O-Oh! Sorry about that, Mina! I was just thinking, y'know, maybe we ought to head out to dinner."

She pumped up her fists. Despite being taller and buffer and even more beautiful than he was way back when he was young, he was still like he was back then, still that same old stuttering kid. Besides being Japan's (and not only Japan's, but also in some instances the world's) Number One Hero, not much had changed. "Sure thing! And what's this about boats?"

He scratched his cheek. "N-Nothing in particular, really. I'll show you later."

Suspiciously, she tilted her head to the side. He was seemingly more jumpy than usual tonight, and she had to wonder why. "Mhm, whatever you say. It sounds to me like you're taking me on one of those extra special dates today."

"Well, I mean, it _is_ Valentine's Day."

She latched onto his hand. "Yup!"

"And"—he held his hand to his heart—"because of all this Hero work, I haven't really gotten to see you lately..."

She stared up at him, his nervousness nothing to hide. Her lips turned down slightly before turning back up. "Then let's just let tonight make up for that!"

She was really just a ball of positivity, a bundle of joy. An optimist at its finest—and once again he knew why it was he was so in love with this girl. As she stood there, smiling, eyes bright and brave and bubbly and anything but bleak, he could see it on her face— _It'll all be alright,_ she silently said. _Together, we'll make it through. We'll support each other and lift each other up and give each other the chance to live our best lives. I can easily prove it to you, Izuku!_

Little did she know, he needed no proof.

"Okay," he said. He'd surrendered. She was just too hard to handle, too hard to resist.

They decided on a quick-and-easy-Google-search-certified restaurant right up the street. It'd been a while since they'd had authentic Japanese food.

After dinner and a delicious dessert, their waitress, seemingly overjoyed to be serving the two of them, walked willfully over to their table and handed them the bill. She swooned. "You know, now that my work's over, would it really be rude to ask you for an autograph?"

Izuku stuttered, waving his hands. "O-Oh, no, of course not! From Pinky or me?"

She pulled out her notebook. "Would both be okay?"

"Of course!" Mina said, and she signed first. Quickly following suit was Izuku.

They gave her a generous tip that night.

Besides, she seemed like such a sweet, young lady, college-aged, and the two of them could sympathize with that. She also had magnificent manners.

Mina, prepared to leave the restaurant, packed her purse and stood up, completely taken aback by Izuku's hesitancy and holding onto her wrist.

"I-Izu—"

He stumbled back. "Sorry. I was just thinking… Maybe I should give you my gift now?"

Her heart hammered wildly in and out of her chest. She'd told herself over and over not to get her hopes up, that there was an existentially, earth-shatteringly slim chance that tonight would be the night, but she still found herself sweating bullets and, as she sat back down, squirming in her seat.

He handed her his gift bag. It was small, but cute, decorated with pink confetti streamers spilling out over the sides. She nearly tore it apart.

"W-Woah, Mina, slow down," he said. They were drawing too much attention. "You're missing the best part."

Besides, wasn't the wait the best? Why rush? Why not let the excitement build a bit?

But, of course, Mina had never had that mindset. She never would. Continued digging led her to an astounding, and, as she wouldn't have liked to admit, a bit disappointing discovery.

"It's… Polaroids? And a new wallet? And— Woah! You packed this chock-full of Pocky!"

Mina had always had a special place in her heart and on the tip of her tongue for the sweet, strawberry-flavored snacks. Those and candy hearts.

Sadly, there was no little black box, no ring at the bottom of the bag, no matter how much she ripped up the wrapping. Nothing.

She slapped her cheeks. She shouldn't have been thinking that way! The chances were slim, anyway, and she should've been more appreciative! Besides, these Polaroids were cute.

She had remembered a few of his friends taking them on their nights out at the bar or little get-togethers and gatherings and mini high school reunions. He'd likely been compiling them since then.

One was of her totally catching him off guard, leaning up for a quick kiss on the cheek, dressed up nicely with bottles of beer behind them as the other former members of Class 3-A photobombed their shot by giving them bold and brash bunny ears. That must've been a year ago now. What a throwback.

The next was a Polaroid picture, a selfie slightly blurry, he distinctly remembered Mina snapping in the spur of the moment on one of their dates one day, his hair disheveled and self sweaty as she held his hand running on the roller rink. A few months ago they'd decided to go roller skating, and Mina really wanted one of those aesthetic kinds of photos, as she called it, the chaotic ones that created the most beautiful and sentimental memories. Izuku didn't question it.

She took it, and before she even had the chance to look at it and regret giving it to him, she'd already handed it off to him.

She was honestly expecting him to keep it for himself, but she guessed she liked it more this way. She had an affinity for on-the-spot photos like this.

Well, this was what she'd gotten out of it. They looked more like knuckleheaded nobodies than fiercely famous Pro Heroes. She was honestly a little embarrassed.

Oh well. She'd hang it up at home on an empty clothespin on their... _hideously decorated_ bedroom wall anyway. Half of it was his, Hero posters scattered scarcely throughout, while the other half was hers, more popular-media kinds of stuff like vintage fairy lights and retro indie disks hanging around the room to give it a "vibe." They didn't work together too well, and mixed to create an... _intriguing_ palette of colors, to say the least.

The other Polaroid picture, she decided, the one of her kissing him on the cheek, she would slip sparingly into her phone case. She cherished Izuku so much that she wanted to have him with her everywhere she went.

The last was taken of the two of them after a troublesome talk show on TV. Off set, they stood in the snow in their Hero costumes after some of the city's most famous talk show hosts had interviewed them asking interpersonal questions about their relationship. Neither were crazy about the attention, and were only told to indulge in more publicity by their respective Hero agencies, and gave bland and ambiguous answers.

He had draped his coat over her, just as he had done at that dance. It'd been years since then, but she still remembered it as if it were yesterday. She remembered almost all of their milestones, from their first date to their first kiss to their very first time. That last one was a wild ride, mainly because they were only a few months into their relationship when it happened.

"Izuku, I didn't know you were saving these for me." She smiled, swooned. "These are so sweet."

"Well, I wanted to give you something more special than just a box of chocolates."

She pouted. "And to think you would've done that to me a few years back because you"—she accented a few subtle air quotes—"'didn't have the time.' 21-year-old you was really immature."

"Maybe just a bit," he admitted. He still sometimes told her he was sorry for that, even nowadays. "I promise I still loved you back then, too."

She held his hand on top of the table, fiddled around with his fingers. "I know." Oh, how she dreamed of wearing a wedding ring. "Although, I _have_ to admit, that might not be your _finest_ moment in our relationship thus far."

Her sarcasm was like a brisk blow to the chest. "Oh, don't bring the memories back!"

She laughed, shook her head. Part of her felt guilty but good seeing him embarrassed. She pulled out the Pocky and then the brand new wallet. It was a purple, more of a mauve, that so perfectly matched her Hero costume, and would've gone well with all of the black she had in her closet. Izuku Midoriya really knew how to pick a good fit.

Well, _that_ had certainly changed from when he was younger.

Upon opening it up, there was copious amounts of space for her to fit her credit cards and money and personal belongings into particular pouches, much more so than the last wallet she'd owned. That old one had wear and tear and was getting all scuffed up anyway.

"Aw, Izuku, how'd you know?"

"You've been complaining about your old one for a while."

She winked. "You might know me better than I know myself."

He gave her no response, and then, all of a sudden, as she looked down at the accidental array of puffy pink confetti strayed out on the table in front of her, she laughed, and laughed and laughed and laughed until even Izuku couldn't wrap his mind around her peculiar behavior and she supposedly got her head back on straight. "Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm just happy." And a little mad at herself for thinking he'd possibly propose to her, but that was beside the point.

"Over my gift?"

"Yup."

"What? Why?"

"Earlier I was getting way in over my head, but now that I look at this more clearly I really appreciate it."

He wasn't sure if he even wanted to ask her what she meant.

"Oh, don't mind me." She'd noticed bewilderment etched into his emerald eyes. "I'll tell you later, maybe."

He tilted his head to the side at that, but decided once again to not even bother to ask. Over the years, he'd learned that was typically the most suitable course of action with Mina. Besides, she probably had a reason for keeping it quiet.

She pulled out her purse and dug through it a little and handed him a glacial green gift bag. She'd hidden it much better than he had. He was taken completely by surprise.

"This… Mina, this is huge! Thanks! But how'd you even fit it into that purse?"

She smirked, rolled her eyes, gave him a telling look. "I have my ways."

Instead of ripping up the wrapping paper like mischievous Mina did, he opened her gift more carefully, double-checking each last layer to make sure he didn't miss anything meaningful. The last thing he wanted to do was miss out on a note or some sum of money or something super special. It would totally ruin his night.

He pulled out posters. Hero posters, to be exact, more to add to his room. A little love letter was left inside, faintly falling out as he unraveled the paper and plastic, and much to his amusement he read it. He read it whilst squeezing Mina's hand, letting her know all the while that he loved her. He needed no love letter to tell him that.

But it was sweet, seeing her run right over all the highs and lows of their relationship. She wrote with such passion, fire in her heart, like a moth drawn to a flame. As soon as the lightbulb went off, she was writing and writing and writing until her hands hurt.

He leaned over the table and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. If they weren't Pro Heroes feasting at a fancy restaurant, he'd probably do much more.

At the bottom of the bag was a chain. A golden one, a new one to replace the old one that'd fallen into the river not too long ago and rusted. He'd had an unhealthy obsession with them lately. She felt bad feeding into it, but what was the worst that could happen? He clogged up their closet with them? He was more likely to do so with Hero posters.

He threw it on right there in the middle of the restaurant. Even in such an unfitting outfit, it looked good on him. She gave him a thumbs-up.

And then, finally, they headed out.

Izuku needed a break from that place. It was starting to get stuffy. It was refreshing to be outside.

He decided he probably wanted to stay outdoors for the rest of the night. If it didn't get too cold, that was. It was a strangely warm winter this year, especially for the middle of February. But besides the boulevard, he needed some fresh air.

They hit up mini-golf first. Then, they carried on back to the boulevard. By now it was 9:00 p.m. They shopped for half an hour or so before taking a walk in the park.

"This brings back memories, huh?" Mina mumbled. She was too busy taking in the scenery.

"Y-Yup. Reminds me of our first year." He held her hand tighter, a dash of doubt discriminately detectable in his voice. He seemed scared. Of what—she didn't discern.

She looked at him with equivocal eyes before returning her gaze to the sidewalk cement. Whenever she wondered and wandered, she preoccupied herself by studying those lines, all while thinking of Izuku. What was he pondering now?

She decided it'd be best not to ask.

His hands grew evidently more sweaty as they walked. She wondered why. Eventually, their legs lagging behind after an incredibly eventful day, they took a break, sat down on a nearby bench.

They took a look up at the moon and stars.

"Imagine the universe being finite."

She glimpsed over at him and realized he was being sarcastic, poking fun at those who believed such a thing. Besides, she had changed his thinking a long time ago. "Yup. No, I don't think so."

And suddenly she was so sad.

So there really was no proposal.

And yet again, there goes another year.

Not at the boulevard, not at mini-golf, not even at the park. The time was tilting toward ten. They'd be going home soon.

"Mina."

"Hm?" she asked.

"There's one more place I wanna take you."

Her eyes widened, black sclera becoming bigger and brighter than his.

"Well, you see," he said, scratching the nape of his neck, "there's these boats. And they just opened, and I thought it'd be fun if we rode one, y'know?"

"Oh, um, okay. Where?"

He pointed back beyond some trees and into the bleak black abyss. "From what I read"—he whipped out his phone—"they're right here in this park." He lit up like a lightbulb. "Yup. And they close soon, so we'd better hurry."

She stood upright and bolted.

She felt ridiculous for getting her hopes up, but she felt good all of a sudden, like maybe she had a chance. If it didn't happen tonight they'd probably break out into a fight about it soon, since marriage wasn't something minor.

"M-Mina!" He ran to catch up, grabbed hold of her hand. He wrapped his right arm around her neck—scarred, bruised, and blemished—burying her head into his shoulder, and the two of them had a good laugh at that, bubbling over with glee. All of a sudden he wasn't so on edge, his nerves tingling with not nauseousness but a new sensation: serenity.

He released her, and the two of them held hands normally. Had they mentioned they weren't into PDA?

But he still smiled all along the way.

He felt up his back pocket, just to make sure. He sighed to himself upon realizing he was all set.

The line was long. Even minutes before the company was about to close down for the day, people still gathered, conglomerating the little remaining space left behind them. Izuku eagerly held her hand to counter his clouding claustrophobia.

He was scared, that with the little time they had left, they wouldn't make it.

He held his breath.

And all of a sudden they were at the front of the line.

He began beaming.

Although potentially prematurely, as immediately after he did so, the receptionist running the ride sounded her speaker and said something rather surly he most definitely did _not_ want to hear.

"I am sorry to inform you all, ride-goers, that the time is now 10:00 p.m., and, along with this park, we will be shutting down." She let the two in front of them go and informed them that they were the last ride.

Mina groaned.

Izuku stared at her wide-eyed. "Well, so much for that."

"Yup."

And so much for that other thing he was planning, too.

Oh well. He guessed he'd just have to improvise. It wouldn't turn out so bad, would it?

It wouldn't be romantic, nor would it be remarkable like those scenes straight out of the movies, but it would be done purely out of love.

And so, as soon as for even a second she looked away, he got down on one knee.

There were shocked shrieks coming from the confounded crowd. If that didn't get Mina's attention, he didn't know what would.

She turned. And then she brought her hands from her hips to her lips. She was still trying to process it. As soon as he pulled out that little black box from his back pocket she silently started to cry.

Eight years. Eight years she had been waiting for this moment.

Tonight she had gotten her hopes so high she was practically preparing herself for a heart attack in cold blood!

And now all of a sudden he was down on one knee?

It didn't feel real.

She pinched the skin on the back of her elbow, and then on the front of her forearm. Yup. This was real, alright. She was awake, and totally freaking out.

"Mina…" he began. The people behind them were still, stunned, shocked, gossiping on the grounds that the Number One Hero, Izuku—"Deku"—Midoriya, was proposing to the love of his life right in front of their eyes. For the rest of their days they'd be able to say that _they_ were the ones to bear witness to this. "I met you at U.A., when we were both young and dumb, and I must have been kidding myself to have not fallen in love with you sooner." He looked down at the ground, face flushed, cheeks tinted with a tinge of riled-up red.

He continued on, stuttering slightly, as if he had completely lost his composure and with a quick flip of the switch had totally turned it back on again. "It was really all thanks to that dance. And then, after sorting some things out, we started dating, and ever since then I haven't been able to take my eyes off you. Ashido Mina, I love you from the bottom of my heart. I loved you when we had our first date, our first kiss, when we graduated and moved out and into our first apartment. I couldn't imagine my life without you, and for the longest time now, I've known that you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my days with. So, with that being said, Ashido Mina"—he trailed off a bit and fizzled out of his confession before coming back into it full force—"will you marry me?"

She stood there, stunned, unwittingly wiping away the tears, but it was no use, as they just kept on rolling, sliding softly down her cheeks, piling up on her clothes and forming a puddle on the ground beneath her. She wanted to say so much but so little at the same time, and in the heat of the moment, all she could manage to get out was a meek and meager "Yes."

He stood up, tears now brimming blatantly beneath his benevolent eyes, maybe even more so than the slightly overemotional Mina's. Izuku Midoriya was an idealist, especially when it came to Heroes and even when it came to something as silly as romance. Well, he wasn't quite sure "silly" was the word to describe it.

This was a crucial part of his life—as was she—and this declaration, this proposal, was nothing short of magnificent.

He took her up into his arms. "Yes," she mumbled into the satiny sleeves of his shirt. "I thought you'd never ask. A million times over, yes."

The two shared a kiss.

It was a sentimental kiss, a purely passionate one, emotions running high. She kissed him all over—the cheek, the forehead, even the tip of his nose. As said before, neither were particularly fond of PDA, but tonight they could make an exception.

"Of course I'd ask."

As soon as they let go of each other, still basking in bliss and standing so close, they were alarmed by the sound of cheers.

"Go get 'em, Deku!"

"Ah!" one girl screamed. "I love you guys! Pinky, you really got yourself a good one. That was so cute!"

He slipped the ring onto her finger. It was nothing flashy, but with a real diamond embedded into the center and gold surrounding the exterior, it sure must have been expensive.

And it did signify one thing: Izuku Midoriya was now not only her lover, but also her fiancé.

She squealed.

"I love you so, so much," she said, and she leaned in for another kiss on the lips.

And, as they were beginning to sign some autographs, he whispered in her ear, "I love you too."

Mina Midoriya. What a name that would be.

She spun on her heels like an innocent, lovesick schoolgirl, only giving her senseless swooning a second thought when she realized she still had a whole line of autographs to sign before she could even _think_ about going back home. She wasn't sure whether to cry tears of joy or agony.

They waved the last of their fans goodbye a little after the clock hit eleven. They'd really drawn in a crowd.

And with a ring on her finger and a newfound closeness between the two that they'd never ever once reached before, they walked home idly under the moonlight, happily hand in hand.

 **\- o - o - o - o -  
** **  
A/N:** _Well, that was it. The end of my first novel. As for my next work, it'll be a 20k-25k word IzuOcha fanfic. It'll be pretty angsty. I will definitely be posting it on Wattpad, and probably also on here. Once again, I simply thank you all for your support! I can honestly say I love you guys, and I'm glad you came along with me on this journey!_


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